DEERFIELD, Ill. - (Business Wire) CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: CF) announced today that it is offering to acquire Terra Industries Inc. (NYSE: TRA) for $32.00 in cash and 0.1034 of a share of CF Industries common stock for each Terra share (including the $7.50 per share special dividend declared by Terra). The offer has a value of $40.61 per share, based on Friday’s closing price for CF Industries common stock. The offer, which is equivalent to a multiple of 7.1 times trailing 12-months EBITDA, represents a premium of 28% to Terra’s closing price on Friday and a significantly higher premium to the price at which Terra shares would have traded without takeover speculation. Morgan Stanley has committed $2.5 billion to provide the funds required for the transaction. The transaction is not subject to a financing condition and is not subject to the approval of CF Industries stockholders. CF Industries has satisfied all antitrust regulatory conditions that are required to close the transaction.
“The strategic benefit of combining these two great companies is undeniable,” said Stephen R. Wilson, chairman, president and chief executive officer of CF Industries. “The substantial cash in our offer makes the combination far more accretive for CF Industries stockholders, while providing certainty on value and closing for Terra stockholders. The transaction is clearly in the best interests of our respective stockholders.”
The following letter was sent to the Terra Board of Directors:
November 1, 2009
Board of Directors
Terra Industries Inc.
Terra Centre
600 Fourth Street
P.O. Box 6000
Sioux City, Iowa 51102-6000
| Attention: | | | Henry R. Slack, Chairman of the Board |
| | | Michael L. Bennett, President and Chief Executive Officer |
Dear Members of the Board:
We continue to believe that the strategic and financial benefits of combining CF Industries and Terra Industries are compelling. Given our confidence in the benefits of the combination, we are offering to acquire Terra for $32.00 in cash and 0.1034 of a share of CF Industries common stock for each Terra share (including the $7.50 per share special dividend declared by Terra). Our offer represents a highly attractive multiple of 7.1 times trailing 12-months EBITDA.
Morgan Stanley has committed to provide the financing required for the transaction. Our offer is not subject to a financing condition or to the approval of CF Industries stockholders. The merger agreement between the two companies would also contain no financing condition. As you are aware, CF Industries has satisfied all antitrust regulatory conditions required to close the transaction.
Our offer is subject to approval by the Terra Board of Directors, entering into a definitive agreement with customary conditions and confirmatory due diligence.
Unless a merger agreement is entered into by November 30, 2009, our financing commitment would expire. We have the right to extend the financing commitment until December 31, 2009, subject to there not having been a disruption in the financing markets. Accordingly, we reserve the right to withdraw our offer if a merger agreement is not entered into by November 30, 2009.
Our offer provides compelling value for Terra stockholders as well as certainty of closing. The transaction clearly is in the best interests of our respective stockholders, and we should move forward promptly and sign a merger agreement to put these two great companies together.
Sincerely,
Stephen R. Wilson
Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer
CF Industries Holdings, Inc.
Morgan Stanley and Rothschild are acting as financial advisors and Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP is acting as legal counsel to CF Industries.
Additional information for Investors, Employees, Customers and the Agribusiness Community is available at www.transactioninfo.com/cfindustries or www.cfindustries.com.
About CF Industries
CF Industries Holdings, Inc., headquartered in Deerfield, Illinois, is the holding company for the operations of CF Industries, Inc. CF Industries, Inc. is a major producer and distributor of nitrogen and phosphate fertilizer products. CF Industries operates world-scale nitrogen fertilizer plants in Donaldsonville, Louisiana and Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada; conducts phosphate mining and manufacturing operations in Central Florida; and distributes fertilizer products through a system of terminals, warehouses, and associated transportation equipment located primarily in the Midwestern United States. The company also owns a 50 percent interest in KEYTRADE AG, a global fertilizer trading organization headquartered near Zurich, Switzerland. Additional information on CF Industries is found on the company's website at www.cfindustries.com.
Additional Information
This communication is neither an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities, nor is it a substitute for the prospectus/proxy statement CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (“CF Industries”) would file with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) regarding the proposed transaction with Terra Industries Inc. (“Terra”) if such a negotiated transaction is reached or for any other document which CF Industries may file with the SEC and send to CF Industries or Terra stockholders in connection with the proposed transaction. INVESTORS AND SECURITY HOLDERS OF CF INDUSTRIES AND TERRA ARE URGED TO READ ANY SUCH DOCUMENTS FILED WITH THE SEC CAREFULLY IN THEIR ENTIRETY IF AND WHEN THEY BECOME AVAILABLE BECAUSE THEY WILL CONTAIN IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT THE PROPOSED TRANSACTION.
Investors and security holders will be able to obtain free copies of any documents filed by CF Industries with the SEC through the web site maintained by the SEC at www.sec.gov. Free copies of any such documents can also be obtained by calling Innisfree M&A Incorporated toll-free at (877) 456-3507.
CF Industries and its directors and executive officers will be participants in any solicitation of proxies from Terra stockholders in respect of the proposed transaction with Terra. Information regarding CF Industries’ directors and executive officers is available in the supplement to its proxy statement for its 2009 annual meeting of stockholders, which was filed with the SEC on April 7, 2009, and a description of their direct and indirect interests in such solicitation, by security holdings or otherwise, will be contained in the proxy statement/prospectus filed in connection with the proposed transaction with Terra.
Safe Harbor Statement
Certain statements contained in this communication may constitute “forward-looking statements.” All statements in this communication, other than those relating to historical information or current condition, are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond our control, which could cause actual results to differ materially from such statements. Risks and uncertainties relating to the proposed transaction include: Terra’s failure to accept CF Industries proposal and enter into definitive agreements to effect the transaction; our ability to obtain shareholder and other approvals on the proposed terms and schedule; uncertainty of the expected financial performance of CF Industries following completion of the proposed transaction; CF Industries’ ability to achieve the cost-savings and synergies contemplated by the proposed transaction within the expected time frame; CF Industries’ ability to promptly and effectively integrate the businesses of Terra and CF Industries; and disruption from the proposed transaction making it more difficult to maintain relationships with customers, employees or suppliers. Additional risks and uncertainties include: the relatively expensive and volatile cost of North American natural gas; the cyclical nature of our business and the agricultural sector; changes in global fertilizer supply and demand and its impact on the selling price of our products; the nature of our products as global commodities; intense global competition in the consolidating markets in which we operate; conditions in the U.S. agricultural industry; weather conditions; our inability to accurately predict seasonal demand for our products; the concentration of our sales with certain large customers; the impact of changing market conditions on our forward pricing program; the reliance of our operations on a limited number of key facilities; the significant risks and hazards against which we may not be fully insured; reliance on third party transportation providers; unanticipated adverse consequences related to the expansion of our business; our inability to expand our business, including the significant resources that could be required; potential liabilities and expenditures related to environmental and health and safety laws and regulations; our inability to obtain or maintain required permits and governmental approvals or to meet financial assurance requirements; acts of terrorism; difficulties in securing the supply and delivery of raw materials we use and increases in their costs; losses on our investments in securities; loss of key members of management and professional staff; the international credit crisis and global recession; credit losses from counterparties to our natural gas swap contracts due to the credit and economic crisis; and the other risks and uncertainties included from time to time in our filings with the SEC. Except as required by law, we undertake no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements.
CF Industries Holdings, Inc.
Terry Huch, 847-405-2515
Senior Director, Investor Relations and Corporate Communications
thuch@cfindustries.com
or
Brunswick Group LLC
Susan Stillings / Monika Driscoll, 212-333-3810
or
Innisfree M&A Incorporated
Alan Miller, 212-750-5833
