CF Industries snaps up OCI distribution businesses to expand global fertilizer business

CF Industries will acquire the distribution networks of Netherland's OCI N.V. in a deal valued at $8 billion and create one of the world's largest nitrogen fertilizer companies.

The deal, which includes about $2 billion in debt, is expected to increase CF's effective nitrogen capacity per share by 18 percent.

CF would get OCI's nitrogen operations in the Netherlands and Iowa, and a complex in Beaumont, Texas. The deal also includes OCI's distribution system in Dubai.

CF Industries Holdings Inc., which is based in Deerfield, Illinois, will become a subsidiary of a new holding company based in the United Kingdom. The combination with Amsterdam-based OCI's European, North American and global distribution businesses follows its attempt to join with Yara International ASA, a deal that fell apart.