CF begins exchange offer Terra shares after announcing $4.74B bid earlier this week

CF begins exchange offer Terra shares

NEW YORK — CF Industries Holdings Inc. said Friday it has begun its unsolicited $4.7 billion offer for fertilizer company Terra Industries Inc., which has already accepted a buyout offer from a Norwegian company.

Chemical maker CF, based in Deerfield, Ill., on Tuesday offered $37.15 in cash and nearly one-tenth of a share of common stock for each Terra share.

The exchange offer for all of Terra’s outstanding shares will expire at 5 p.m. Eastern time on April 2.

CF’s offer has a total value of $47.40 per share based Monday’s closing stock price, or about $4.7 billion. CF’s last offer, made in December, was valued at $4.6 billion.

CF made its latest bid for Terra after Terra agreed to be acquired by Norway’s Yara for $4.1 billion, or about $41.10 per share.

Terra shares closed at $44.80 a share on Thursday.

Terra, based in Sioux City, Iowa, had repeatedly rejected CF’s previous offers. CF had vowed to end its hostile bids, but went back on the offensive after Terra agreed to Yara’s deal.

“Our offer is far superior to Yara’s in value, timing and certainty of closing,” CF President and CEO Stephen R. Wilson reiterated in a statement Friday.