Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas advises Agrium and PotashCorp on CCI approval of their USD 36 billion global merger

Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas advised Agrium Inc. (Agrium) and Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan, Inc. (PotashCorp) in obtaining approval from the Competition Commission of India (CCI) on the USD 36 billion merger of Agrium and PotashCorp.

PotashCorp is the world's largest fertilizer company by capacity and Agrium is a major global producer and distributor of agricultural products, services, and solutions.

The global merger would create a new company (Nutrien) which would be the largest global provider of crop inputs and services.

The Competition Law team of Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas provided legal and strategic advice for securing approval to the proposed merger from CCI.

As a part of the approval process, an appeal was filed before the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT), which was the first ever appeal to a modification proposal of the CCI. The firm was successful in securing a final order from the NCLAT, approving a revised modification proposal.

The team was led by Pallavi Shroff, Managing Partner and National Practice Head - Dispute Resolution.

The Competition Law team which secured the approval from the CCI approval and final order from the NCLAT was led by Harman Singh Sandhu, Partner; and included Yaman Verma, Principal Associate, Prateek Bhattacharya, Senior Associate, Gauri Mehta, Associate. Anuj Berry, Partner and Binsy Susan, Partner of the Dispute Resolution team of Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas provided inputs in relation to litigation aspects.

The deal was signed on September 11, 2016 and is in the process of getting all regulatory approvals.