Nutrien To Sell 50% Equity Position In Profertil For $600M

Nutrien (NTR) announced on Monday that it has agreed to sell its 50% equity position in Argentina-based nitrogen producer Profertil S.A. to Adecoagro S.A. and Asociacion de Cooperativas Argentinas through a joint acquisition for about $600 million.

“The agreement to sell our equity stake in Profertil advances our strategy to focus on assets and geographies that are core to our long-term vision,” said Nutrien CEO Ken Seitz.

“We intend to allocate the sale proceeds to initiatives consistent with our capital allocation priorities, including targeted growth investments, share repurchases, and debt reduction,” Seitz said, adding that these initiatives will help with Nutrien’s earnings and support long-term growth in free cash flow.

Retail sentiment on Nutrien remained unchanged in the ‘bearish’ territory, with chatter at ‘normal’ levels, according to data from Stocktwits.

Nutrien said that the proportionate share of Profertil earnings recorded in the company’s nitrogen operating segment was about $60 million over the previous four quarters.

The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions and is expected to be completed before the end of 2025, Nutrien said. The company added that under the Profertil shareholder agreement, the remaining 50% equity owner holds a 90-day right of first refusal to purchase Nutrien’s equity on the same terms and conditions.

Adecoagro stated that the remaining 50% stake of Profertil is owned by YPF S.A., one of Argentina's largest oil and gas producers. The company will execute this acquisition through an 80%-20% partnership with Asociación de Cooperativas Argentinas.

Profertil has an annual capacity of about 1.3 million metric tons of urea and 790,000 metric tons of ammonia. The company supplies approximately 60% of Argentina's urea consumption and has a fully dollarized revenue business, given the export nature of the product. The company generated average annual earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) of about $390 million over the 2020-2024 period.

"We believe this acquisition is an excellent fit for our agro-industrial platform, enabling us to continue diversifying our operations and reduce volatility in our results,” Adecoagro CEO Mariano Bosch said.

Retail sentiment on Adecoagro remained unchanged in the ‘neutral’ territory, with chatter at ‘normal’ levels, according to data from Stocktwits. 

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