Acquisition positions ICL as Brazil’s leading specialty plant nutrition company
TEL AVIV, Israel–(BUSINESS WIRE)–ICL (NYSE: ICL) (TASE: ICL), a leading global specialty minerals and specialty chemicals company, today announced it has completed the acquisition of Compass Minerals América do Sul S.A., which includes the South American Plant Nutrition business of Compass Minerals, for approximately US$420 million.
The South American Plant Nutrition business is the leading specialty plant nutrition business in Brazil and offers a broad range of solutions for plant nutrition and stimulation, covering all key Brazilian crops. Its product portfolio includes enhanced efficiency fertilizers and controlled-release fertilizers, soil and foliar micronutrients, secondary nutrients, biostimulants, and adjuvants. The business has a presence in 25 out of 26 Brazilian states and serves more than 32,000 farms directly and indirectly, with direct-to-farm sales accounting for approximately 50% of total sales.
“We’re delighted to have this business join our crop nutrition portfolio and to welcome its team and its customers to ICL. This acquisition, together with our recent acquisition of Fertiláqua in Brazil and our existing specialty plant nutrition business there, positions ICL as the leading specialty plant nutrition company in Brazil, one of the world’s fastest growing agriculture markets. This important step delivers on our stated strategy of achieving leadership positions in high-growth specialty plant nutrition markets and accelerates our progress toward long-term global leadership for our Innovative Ag Solutions division. This step will also significantly expand ICL’s product portfolio and profitability, while providing further seasonal balance between the Northern and Southern hemispheres, and allow us to deliver the critical mass we have been seeking in Brazil,” said Raviv Zoller, president and CEO of ICL.
The addition of the South American Plant Nutrition business will allow ICL to offer its customers the broadest and most advanced portfolio of plant nutrition products, covering the entire agricultural value chain. This business, together with ICL’s existing operations in Brazil, will leverage a well-established asset base, with a total of eight production sites and a sizable salesforce providing full commercial coverage for all agricultural regions in Brazil.
About Compass Minerals América do Sul S.A.
Founded in 1965 as Produquímica, the company is the leading specialty plant nutrition player in Brazil and offers a broad range of solutions for plant nutrition and stimulation, seed treatment, and plant health across all key Brazilian crops, including soybeans, corn, coffee, sugarcane, cotton, fruits, and vegetables. The company’s product portfolio includes enhanced efficiency fertilizers and controlled-release fertilizers, soil and foliar micronutrients, secondary nutrients (calcium, magnesium and sulfur), biostimulants, and adjuvants, as well as animal nutrition and plant nutrition ingredients for B2B customers.
About ICL
ICL Group Ltd. is a leading global specialty minerals and chemicals company that creates impactful solutions for humanity’s sustainability challenges in global food, agriculture, and industrial markets. ICL leverages its unique bromine, potash and phosphate resources, its passionate team of talented employees, and its strong focus on R&D and technological innovation to drive growth across its end markets. ICL shares are dually listed on the New York Stock Exchange and the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (NYSE and TASE: ICL). The company employs over 11,000 people worldwide, and its 2020 revenues totaled approximately $5.0 billion.
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Forward-Looking Statements
This announcement contains statements that constitute forward-looking statements, many of which can be identified by the use of forward-looking words such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “could,” “expect,” “should,” “plan,” “intend,” “estimate” and “potential,” among others.
Forward-looking statements appear in a number of places in this press release and include, but are not limited to, statements regarding the company’s intent, belief or current expectations. Forward-looking statements are based on management’s beliefs and assumptions and on information currently available to management. Such statements are subject to risks and uncertainties, and actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements due to various factors, including, but not limited to: the anticipated effect of the transaction on the crop nutrition business; ICL’s strategic focus in Brazil; and estimated accretion, sales, synergy capture and other related metrics. Although ICL believes the expectations and assumptions on which such forward-looking statements are based are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on the forward-looking statements because ICL can give no assurance they will prove to be correct.
Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, estimates, forecasts and statements as to management’s expectations with respect to, among other things, business and financial prospects, financial multiples and accretion estimates, future trends, plans, strategies, positioning, objectives and expectations, and the ability to successfully integrate the new business into the existing business in an effective manner, general economic, market and business conditions, weather conditions, crop prices, the supply and demand and price levels for our major products and products associated with the plant nutrition business, governmental and regulatory requirements and actions by governmental authorities, including changes in government policy, changes in environmental, tax and other laws or regulations and the interpretation thereof. As a result of the foregoing, readers should not place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements contained in this press release concerning the timing of the transaction, or other more specific risks and uncertainties facing ICL, such as those set forth in the “Risk Factors” section of its Annual Report on Form 20-F filed on March 2, 2021, as such risk factors may be updated from time to time in its Current Reports on Form 6-K and other filings ICL makes with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission from time to time.
Forward-looking statements refer only to the date they are made, and the company does not undertake any obligation to update them in light of new information or future developments or to publicly release any revisions to these statements in order to reflect later events or circumstances or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.
Contacts
Investor Relations Contacts
Peggy Reilly Tharp
VP, Global Investor Relations
+1-314-983-7665
Peggy.ReillyTharp@icl-group.com
Dudi Musler
Director, Investor Relations
+972-3-684-4448
Dudi.Musler@icl-group.com
Press Contact
Adi Bajayo
Scherf Communications
+972-52-4454789
Adi@scherfcom.com
