Russian mineral fertilizer producer Acron will not bid for a 20 percent state stake in apatite concentrate maker Apatit due to strategy changes, the company said in a statement on Friday.
"Even this year we will receive apatite concentrate from our Oleniy Ruchey mining processing plant, so this stake is no longer a strategic interest for us. This is why we decided to change the priorities and focus our financial efforts on other sectors, particularly on our own projects," Acron Acting President Alexander Popov was quoted in a statement as saying.
BNP Paribas, which has been mandated by the government to arrange the stake sale, initially assessed its value at 10.5 billion rubles ($350 million).
Acron also said it had settled a dispute on apatite concentrate supplies with Russian fertilizer holding company PhosAgro, which currently owns more than 57.57 percent of the voting shares in Apatit. The parties agreed on Apatit's purchase of apatite-nepheline ore from Oleniy Ruchey.
The agreement between the two companies ends conflict between the two firms over apatite concentrate supplies, so Acron pulled out from the tender to reduce competition for PhosAgro, VTB Capital analyst Kevin Whyte told RIA Novosti.
"Acron's participation in the tender was the unspoken point in the conflict, because Acron was a competitor [for PhosAgro] which proposed the highest price it is willing to pay for the state stake in Apatit," Whyte said.
Russian fertilizer maker Uralchem, PhosAgro and the Renova group of companies and Trust National Bank are among other bidders for the Apatit state stake. Apatit produces 75 percent of apatite concentrate production in Russia.
The tender was due to be held on June 14 but was put back to September 15 because only Uralchem had filed a bid by the due date.
