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India: Watchdog says Agrium-Potash merger to hurt competition

By  |  March 29, 2017

India’s competition regulator said the proposed merger of fertilizer producers Agrium and Potash of Saskatchewan Inc is likely to hurt competition, but the comments were not expected to prevent the merger.

Potash Corp and Agrium agreed to merge last September to navigate a severe industry slump by boosting efficiency and cutting costs.

Neither Canadian company has a physical presence in India, but they supply potash to India through Canpotex, which they own with Mosaic.

“The commission is of the (initial) opinion that the proposed combination is likely to have an appreciable adverse effect on competition,” the Competition Commission of India said, according to a government statement on Wednesday.

The commission made similar comments a week ago about the proposed combination of chemical producers Dow Chemical and DuPont.

Full Content: Live Mint

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