K+S shares surging after Potash Corp. takeover approach

Shares in German potash miner K+S leaped as much as 40 per cent on Friday after a takeover proposal from Saskatoonbased Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan, which sources close to the matter said was worth close to 8 billion euros (US$8.9 billion). K+S, which would become the first German blue-chip firm in a decade to be bought by a foreign company, said it was assessing its options after announcing the approach late on Thursday. Two sources close to the matter said K+S would likely reject the proposal as too low. K+S believes Potash wants to take capacity out of an over-supplied market to boost profitability, the sources said, adding it might close some of K+S’s high-cost German mines and sell its salt business.