Anglo-Australian mining giant BHP Billiton yesterday extended its US$40 billion hostile bid for Canada’s Potash Corp for a month after the country’s regulators requested more information.
BHP, the world’s biggest miner, said it intended to “comply expeditiously” with the Canadian Competition Bureau’s request and had pushed back the Oct. 19 deadline.
“The time for acceptance of the offer has therefore been extended to Nov. 18 2010 to allow time for the completion of the regulatory review of the transaction,” BHP said in a statement to the market.
“BHP Billiton is confident that the offer will receive all requisite regulatory approvals in due course,” it added.
Potash, the world’s largest fertilizer maker, rejected last month’s hostile bid as “wholly inadequate” and said it was exploring other options.
China — a big importer of potash, which is used to make fertilizer — has been uneasy about the BHP bid as it already buys large quantities of the company’s iron ore, and is reportedly considering a rival offer.
On Monday, Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall publicly questioned whether a foreign takeover of Potash is good for his province or Canada after meeting with BHP Billiton’s chief executive officer Marius Kloppers.
Wall’s remarks came on the same day Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper told the Canadian Parliament that foreign takeovers are not automatically approved.
Harper’s federal government can block a foreign takeover if it’s not a “net benefit” to Canada. Harper has asked for Wall’s input.
Wall is wary of both a Chinese and BHP takeover of Potash.
“The question needs to be, ‘Are Saskatchewan people, are Canadians better off as a result of this, is our economy stronger as a result of this very large deal?’” Wall said.
“We’re doing our homework, we’ll see what all of that due diligence tells us, but as of today I’m having a hard time answering that question in the affirmative,” Wall said.
Wall said his meeting with Kloppers was friendly and frank, but he was no more supportive of the hostile takeover bid for Saskatchewan’s biggest company than he was beforehand.
“This government’s position has not been to give a blank check to foreign takeovers,” Harper said in Parliament. “There is a law in place. I have spoken about the particular case with the premier of Saskatchewan and obviously we will examine his concerns as we do the review that is required under the Foreign Investment Review Act.”
Harper’s government blocked a US company’s takeover of the space and satellite division of MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates Ltd, Canada’s leading space technology firm, in 2008. It was the first time Canada has rejected a foreign takeover outright since the Canada Investment Act took effect in 1989.
However, Harper’s Conservative government is a staunch supporter of free trade and has allowed recent Chinese investment in Canada’s oil sands sector.
Saskatchewan’s resource minister has said a state-owned Chinese buyer would want to overproduce and drive down prices, which would hurt the province financially.
The province also does not want BHP to pull out of the Canpotex potash marketing cartel if it gets the company. Canpotex represents Saskatchewan’s three largest potash producers in sales of potash outside North America. BHP has said it would pull out of the cartel and sell potash itself.
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
Taiwan has experienced its most significant improvement in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, data provided on Sunday by international higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) showed. Compared with last year’s edition of the rankings, which measure academic excellence and influence, Taiwanese universities made great improvements in the H Index metric, which evaluates research productivity and its impact, with a notable 30 percent increase overall, QS said. Taiwanese universities also made notable progress in the Citations per Paper metric, which measures the impact of research, achieving a 13 percent increase. Taiwanese universities gained 10 percent in Academic Reputation, but declined 18 percent
BULLY TACTICS: Beijing has continued its incursions into Taiwan’s airspace even as Xi Jinping talked about Taiwan being part of the Chinese family and nation China should stop its coercion of Taiwan and respect mainstream public opinion in Taiwan about sovereignty if its expression of goodwill is genuine, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday. Ministry spokesman Jeff Liu (劉永健) made the comment in response to media queries about a meeting between former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) the previous day. Ma voiced support for the so-called “1992 consensus,” while Xi said that although the two sides of the Taiwan Strait have “different systems,” this does not change the fact that they are “part of the same country,” and that “external
UNDER DISCUSSION: The combatant command would integrate fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups to defend waters closest to the coastline, a source said The military could establish a new combatant command as early as 2026, which would be tasked with defending Taiwan’s territorial waters 24 nautical miles (44.4km) from the nation’s coastline, a source familiar with the matter said yesterday. The new command, which would fall under the Naval Command Headquarters, would be led by a vice admiral and integrate existing fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups, along with the Naval Maritime Surveillance and Reconnaissance Command, said the source, who asked to remain anonymous. It could be launched by 2026, but details are being discussed and no final timetable has been announced, the source