ChemChina seeks price reduction for Makhteshim Agan stake

Date:11-22-2010

China National Chemical Corp, which is in talks to buy Israels MA Industries, is seeking a lower price for the worlds No. 7 agrochemical maker, its parent company Koor Industries said on Sunday.

ChemChina is seeking to set the valuation for MA Industries at $2.4 billion instead of the $2.72 billion originally discussed, Koor said in a statement.
The new price reflects a share price of 20.3 shekels for MA, which closed at 17.85 shekels on Thursday.

The two sides are also discussing ChemChina buying a smaller stake from Koor than originally planned, the statement said.

Last month the two sides discussed ChemChina taking 70 percent of MA, including 17 percent purchased from Koor, which would have retained 30 percent.

But Koor, which also owns 3.24 percent of Credit Suisse, now said it might retain more than 30 percent of MA though it did not specify the amount.

Koor had said last month that under the agreement being discussed, ChemChina would buy all of the shares publicly traded and delist MA, which makes herbicides, fungicides and insecticides, from the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange.

"Talks between the company (Koor) and ChemChina are continuing with the shared aim of reaching a binding agreement, and are expected to continue additional weeks," Koor said, adding there was no certainty such an agreement would be signed.

Koor, a holding company, also said it was examining the possibility of taking a non-recourse loan from a foreign bank backed by the shares in MA it will retain following such a deal.

In September, MA halted talks to acquire U.S. firm Albaugh for about $1 billion, blaming findings during due diligence.