"Bloomberg" reports that an Israeli firm is among the bidders for a closed eastern German mine that the German government has put up for sale.
The Israeli firm is presumably Israel Chemicals Ltd. (TASE: ICL).
"Bloomberg" notes that the mine in Rossleben, Thuringia, was shut in 1990, after Germany's reunification, because no bids had been received. GW, the state-owned company that manages shuttered mines, decided to try to sell the mine in view of rising global prices for potash, used in farming and animal feed. The mine has 200 million tons of potash salt. "Bloomberg" quoted GW director Hans-Joachim Hartwig as saying, "We decided to put the mine up for sale again after we saw prices for the commodity soaring worldwide, making the investment in Thuringia attractive again."
Hartwig said that seven parties, including four German companies, one from Canada, one from Israel, and one from France, had expressed interest in the mine. He declined to identify the potential bidders or comment on a possible price. He added that a deadline to express interest expired at the end of January and that the interested parties must submit an investment plan by the end of May.
Although "Bloomberg" did not explicitly mention Israel Chemicals, there is no other Israeli company that is in the potash business and with the wherewithal to make an investment on this scale.
One of the German bidders, according to "Bloomberg", is K+S AG (XETRA:GY), Europe's largest potash producer.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on February 24, 2008
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