Potash is trying to stitch together a consortium led by China to back a management buyout to trump BHP Billiton's $38.6 billion hostile offer, reports claimed today.
Potash has said ever since BHP launched its bid nearly a month ago that it was working to find a white knight, and worries in China about BHP getting control over the market for a key crop nutrient have spawned talk that China would try to block BHP.
Citing unnamed sources, the Globe and Mail report said the bid being considered would include a big element of capital from a Chinese resource company or investment fund, with smaller contributions from international sovereign wealth funds and possibly Canadian players such as pension funds.
It also said rival potash producer Mosaic could be part of the consortium.
"It is a viable option," the newspaper quoted a source close to Potash saying. The source added that it was tough to put together a structure for the consortium and that other options were still possible.
"It is still a big cheque to write....and it is a challenge to manage multiple parties," the source was quoted saying.
A Potash spokesman in Melbourne declined to comment on the report.
Sinochem, parent of China's largest fertiliser distributor, Sinofert Holdings, has expressed concern over BHP's bid for Potash.
The Globe and Mail report came a day after a respected Chinese business magazine Caijin quoted an official at Sinochem saying that a bid for Potash would not be a good deal for the firm but it may consider other assets of the world's biggest fertiliser maker.
The magazine later retracted the story and withdrew it from its website, with no explanation.
The deadline for BHP's offer of $130 a share is October 19th, but it needs clearance from regulators before going ahead. Potash shares last traded at A$147.13.
Reuters