Russia is buying CDN PotashRussia's Acron Buys Canadian Potash Producer for C$61 Million
By Yuriy Humber
June 27 (Bloomberg) -- OAO Acron, Russia's third-largest producer of nitrogen-based fertilizers, bought 98 percent of Canadian potash exploration company Saskatchewan Ltd. as it seeks to increase access to raw materials.
The Veliky Novgorod, central Russia-based company paid C$61 million ($60 million) for Saskatchewan, which holds 36 licenses to explore for the fertilizer ingredient in a 10,274 square- kilometer (3,967 square-mile) area, Acron said yesterday in an e-mailed statement.
Acron, which combines potash with minerals such as nitrogen and phosphate to make complex fertilizers, estimates that nine of the licenses hold about 5 million metric tons of potassium oxide, a form of potash