A fertilizer manufacturer that employs 230 workers in northwest Iowa is being sold to a company based in Oslo, Norway. Sioux City based Terra Industries announced Monday the approval of a definitive merger agreement under which Norway-based Yara International will acquire all of the outstanding shares of Terra common stock for $4.10 a share in a cash transaction that has a total equity value of $4.1 billion.
Under the agreement, Terra will now be known as Yara North America and current Terra President and CEO Mike Bennett will head up the operation which will remain in Sioux City. Terra was founded in 1964 and has nearly 1,000 employees at plants in Sioux City, Oklahoma, Louisiana and Mississippi.
By Randy Renshaw, KSCJ, Sioux City