CF makes another run at Terra

NEW YORK — CF Industries Holdings Inc. said late last week that it has begun its unsolicited $4.8-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., March 2 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 4 p.m. Central time April 2.

CF’s offer has a total value of about $47.46 per share based on March 4′s closing stock price, or about $4.8 billion. That’s up from a total value of about $4.7 billion when the offer was first announced March 2. CF’s last offer, made in December, was valued at $4.6 billion.

CF made its latest bid for Terra after Terra, which operates a facility in Yazoo City, agreed to be acquired by Norway’s Yara for $4.1 billion, or about $41.10 per share.

Terra shares rose 69 cents to $45.49 in morning trading March 5.

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 March 5.