K+S AG completed the sale of its Americas salt business to an investor group led by Stone Canyon Industries Holdings LLC for $3.2 billion on April 30. The business sold includes three iconic salt brands: Morton in the United States, Windsor in Canada and Lobos in Chile.
S&C advised K+S on M&A and other corporate aspects of the deal, which was announced in October 2020, and further advised the company on antitrust matters through completion, including obtaining merger clearance from antitrust regulators in the United States and assisting with merger clearance from antitrust regulators in Canada. As part of a consent decree with the U.S. Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division, Stone Canyon agreed to divest its evaporated salt business, US Salt, based in Watkins Glen, New York.
K+S is a German minerals company for the agriculture, industry, consumer and communities segments. Stone Canyon is a global industrial holding company focused on acquiring and operating market leading companies.
The S&C team that advised K+S on antitrust and competition matters included Steve Holley, Joe Matelis, Michael Rosenthal, Stephanie Freudenberg, Elisa Hauch and Jason Heflin.
In addition to advising K+S on the competition aspects of the deal, a team of S&C lawyers from the United States and Germany guided the client on other aspects of the transaction. S&C’s corporate and M&A team was led by Carsten Berrar and Scott Crofton. Davis Wang advised on tax matters. Matt Friestedt, Regina Readling and Sarah Remmer Long advised on executive compensation matters. Ari Blaut and John Anselmi advised on financing matters. Mehdi Ansari advised on intellectual property matters. Rob Schlein advised on real property matters. Alexander Koch advised on German legal matters. Matt Brennan advised on environmental matters. Eric Queen and Clea McClellan advised on HSR filing matters.