ICL agrees to acquire Fertiláqua
Published by Pippa Luck,
Editorial Assistant
World Fertilizer,
Global speciality minerals and chemicals company ICL has announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Fertiláqua, a Brazilian speciality plant nutrition company, for approximately US$120 million.
The acquisition will expand ICL's speciality plant nutrition product portfolio and enhance its customer base and on-ground presence across agriculture regions in Brazil.
Fertiláqua had been previously controlled by Aqua Capital, an agriculture and food private equity firm.
Fertiláqua offers a portfolio of plant life-cycle solutions for plant nutrition and stimulation, soil revitalisation, seed treatment and plant health across all key Brazilian crops, including soybeans, corn, sugarcane, cotton, coffee, fruits and vegetables. This portfolio includes the brands Aminoagro, Dimicron and Maximus.
Raviv Zoller, ICL President and CEO, said: “The acquisition of Fertiláqua is an important part of the growth strategy of our crop nutrition business. As we stated during our recent investor day, the expected growth of our crop nutrition business, both organically and through M&A [mergers and acquisitions], will be supported, in part, by increased demand for high-end speciality fertilizers and our focus on growth markets.
“Fertiláqua gives ICL a significant foothold in a major market, where demand growth for speciality plant nutrition products is increasing rapidly. In addition, it unlocks immediate synergies for distribution in Brazil and further expands ICL's product portfolio with higher growth, higher margin products, as well as provides balance for seasonality in our speciality fertilizer sales between the Northern and Southern hemispheres.”
Sebastian Popik, Aqua Capital's Managing Partner, said: “The sale to ICL confirms Aqua's development and implementation of Fertiláqua's technological edge, with a top-tier product portfolio, leading R&D capabilities and market presence. Furthermore, we are proud to have successfully completed this transaction with ICL during these challenging times, having worked creatively and constructively to make it happen.”
The acquisition is expected to close in early 2021, subject to the fulfilment of customary closing conditions. ICL expects to leverage Fertiláqua's strong market presence and distribution capabilities to increase the sales of its organic fertilizers, controlled-released fertilizers and other speciality plant nutrition products to the Brazilian market.
Read the article online at: https://www.worldfertilizer.com/special-reports/27102020/icl-agrees-to-acquire-fertilqua/
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