ADNOC to buy OCI’s stake in Fertiglobe for $3.62bn

Abu Dhabi’s national oil and gas company, ADNOC, announced on Friday that it has agreed to buy the Dutch chemical maker OCI’s entire stake in Fertiglobe for $3.62bn, with the deal expected to be completed in 2024.

The agreement will increase ADNOC’s shareholding in the fertilizer manufacturer Fertiglobe to 86.2%; the remaining 13.8% will be in free float on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange.

ADNOC said that the transaction is in line with its chemicals growth strategy and will help it to establish a global growth platform for ammonia. It added that the purchase will enable Fertiglobe to expedite the pursuit of new market and product opportunities.

The announcement follows a report from Bloomberg on Thursday which said that, according to its sources, ADNOC has been exploring the acquisition of OCI as part of its diversification strategy. The publication had written that ADNOC was also considering buying OCI assets rather than the whole company.

Bloomberg noted that OCI’s stock price has fallen by 30% this year, giving it a market value of approximately $4.8bn.