CF Industries Remains Committed to OCI Merger, Exploring Deal Structures

   By Anne Steele 
 

Fertilizer maker CF Industries Holdings Inc. and Dutch counterpart OCI NV said Monday they remain "fully committed" to a merger and are evaluating options after the U.S. Treasury unveiled new rules meant to curb such tax-saving "inversion" deals.

The Treasury notice, announced Wednesday, prevents a U.S. company from buying a foreign firm and then moving to a third country so long as the U.S. outfit's shareholders will own more than 60% of the combined entity.

That would seem to complicate Deerfield, Ill.-based CF's plans to buy Netherlands-based OCI's European, North American and global distribution businesses, reincorporate in the U.K. and give CF's investors a 74% stake.

The companies said their evaluation includes exploring alternative structures for the combination, such as using a parent company in The Netherlands rather than one in the United Kingdom. They said any agreement regarding a new structure will require the approval of each company's board of directors and shareholders.

CF shares, which dipped Thursday and Friday, were inactive premarket Monday.

Write to Anne Steele at [e-mail].

Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 23, 2015 07:07 ET (12:07 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2015 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.