On 20 July 2009, Agrium Inc (Agrium) extended its cash and stock acquisition offer for CF Industries Holdings Inc.'s (CF) as most of CF shareholders withdrew their earlier support for the deal. We expect the acquisition battle to be prolonged given Agrium's hesitance to increase the bid, CF management's persistent opposition to the takeover bid and uncertain behavior of CF's shareholders....

On 11 May 2009, Agrium Inc. (Agrium) raised its offer for CF Industries Holdings Inc. (CF) to US$85.20 per share, an increase of 13.1% over the previous bid price. Considering the premium attached to this offer, we now expect Agrium to close the deal successfully. Until the deal is finalized, however, our fundamental outlook remains unchanged. Therefore, we maintain our 6-12 month HOLD rating. We will reassess our NYSE common stock rating in our next update report....

On 27 March 2009, Agrium Inc (Agrium) increased its offer for CF Industries Holdings Inc (CF Industries) which was subsequently rejected by CF Industries’ Management. Given Agrium’s insistence on completing the acquisition and CF Industries tough resistance, we expect further alteration in the deal in favor of CF Industries. As our fundamental outlook for the company remains unchanged…