The Canadian Competition Bureau has issued a no-action letter saying it will not challenge the proposed merger between Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan and Agrium Inc.
In a statement, the federal regulator said it concluded the Canadian fertilizer manufacturers’ plan to create a new company called Nutrien “would not lead to a substantial lessening or prevention of competition in Canada for products sold by both companies.”
The review specifically looked at the impact on the market for potash fertilizer, dry and liquid phosphate fertilizer, and nitric acid. (Read more on how the Competition Bureau reached this conclusion here.)
According to the companies, regulators in the U.S., China and India are still reviewing the deal, while Brazil and Russia have granted unconditional clearances.
PotashCorp and Agrium say they now expect the deal will close by the end of the fourth quarter of 2017.
Related: Merged Agrium, PotashCorp company to be named “Nutrien”
