Potash Corp in talks to buy Israel Chemical

Potash Corp of Saskatchewan (PotashCorp), the world's largest fertiliser producer, today said that it has held talks with Israeli government over increasing its stake in Israel Chemical Ltd (ICL).

Saskatchewan-based PotashCorp, which was a takeover target in 2010 by Anglo-Australian miner BHP Billiton, said in a statement, ''Discussions have occurred with Israeli government officials around potential options to increase our ownership stake in Israel Chemical Ltd (Israel Chemicals). No deal has been formulated, there is no assurance that a deal will be reached, or that parties will sign an agreement.''

PotashCorp was forced to issue the statement after ICL's biggest shareholder Israel Corp, controlled by the country's billionaire Ofer family, in a regulatory filing with the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange confirmed media reports of the talks.

But ICL said in a statement that PotashCorp CEO Bill Doyle has met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other government officials with plans of ICL formally merging with PotashCorp.

"The company confirms it is aware that Canada's Potash is in talks with various government agencies that included a meeting with the prime minister regarding examining the possibility of merging ICL with Potash," ICL said in a statement to the Tel Aviv stock exchange.

However, ICL's statement on merger is contradictory to PotashCorp's statement on increasing stake.