On the 28th April 2016 China Molybdenum Co. Ltd. (CMOC) reached an agreement to purchase Anglo American's Brazilian niobium and phosphates assets, Anglo Fosfatos, in a transaction worth US$1.5 billion. While it was ultimately the niobium assets that were the draw card, leading to CMOC paying a premium of around US$500 million, many of the bidders, including EuroChem, Mosaic, Vale and the various private equity firms involved, had shown a keen interest in the phosphate assets. These are seen to be profit-making operations with easy access to a market with promising long-term demand growth. The unexpected conclusion has prompted a number of questions, including:
- Who is CMOC and why is it interested in phosphates?
- Why did Anglo American sell its phosphate assets?
- Why did CMOC pay a premium over other bidders?
- Will CMOC continue to operate the fertilizer unit or will it spin it off?
- Are there any structural changes that could be made to the business once the transaction is completed?
- Does the breadth of bidders point to a renewed interest in phosphate assets?
- How can potential bidders understand the core businesses better in other diversification or spin off opportunities?
CRU's cross-commodities coverage of metals, mining and fertilizers, in addition to our detailed and robust cost modelling work, can help to answer some of these questions.
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