[miningmx.com] — CANADA’s Potash Corp is asking a provincial regulator to uphold its shareholder rights plan, saying potential white knights need more time to fund possible bids to rival BHP’s hostile offer.
The rights plan, or poison pill, is a key Potash Corp defence against BHP Billiton’s $39bn attempt to take over the world’s largest fertiliser supplier, which is based in Saskatchewan. The Anglo-Australian miner has applied to the securities regulator in the province to suspend the plan.
In its submission that the regulator released on Friday, Potash Corp said it had spoken to 15 strategic, financial and state-sponsored potential bidders and investors.
The company said its advisers have identified several potential buyers that could realistically make a competing offer to buy Potash Corp, but almost all need time to raise financing. Financing is hard to come by in the current global economic climate, Potash Corp said.
Speculation about who might still bid for Potash Corp has ebbed and flowed since the BHP bid was announced in late August.
Canadian newspapers reported this week that an aboriginal group led by Beardy’s and Okemasis First Nation in Saskatchewan was trying to generate a bid for Potash Corp, talking to banks, pension funds and Chinese investors.
A spokesperson for the group declined immediate comment but the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations said in September that it was seeking resource revenue sharing in the province’s potash sector.
On October 18 local media said Alberta’s provincial money manager was leading discussions with other Canadian pension funds about a plan to preserve the independence of Potash Corp by taking a blocking stake in the company.
Major pension funds reached by Reuters declined to comment on the report.
A fortnight ago it emerged that China’s Sinochem had ruled out a counterbid for Potash Corp, removing one of the most prominent candidates to challenge BHP’s offer.
Generating a rival bid is also complicated by the size and complexity of the deal as well as political and regulatory considerations, Potash Corp said.
The hearing on the rights plan, scheduled for Nov. 8 to 9 in the Saskatchewan capital of Regina, will not be necessary if the federal government quashes BHP’s bid under the Investment Canada Act. The provincial government wants Ottawa to block the bid on the grounds that it would not bring a net benefit to Canada.
