The bidding war for Terra Industries Inc. (NYSE: TRA) heated up yesterday (Wednesday) when the fertilizer company said it preferred a takeover bid from CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: CF) to be a "superior proposal" to its agreement with Yara International ASA (OTC: YARIY). Yara made a $4.1 billion bid for Terra in February, in an all-cash deal valued at $41.10 per share. Per their agreement, Terra can give Yara notice it intends to break the contract, giving Yara five days to provide a better offer. If the break-up goes through, Yara gets a cozy fee of $123 million. CF came forward March 2 with a $4.75 billion bid -- $37.15 in cash and 0.0953 per share for each Terra share. ...

Shares of chemical manufacturer CF Industries Holdings Inc. (CF) fell 1.82% and closed at $93.19 after it pulled out its offer to acquire rival fertilizer company, Terra Industries Inc. (TRA). CF Industries announced yesterday that it is no longer pursuing the acquisition deal.

Deerfield, Illinois-based CF Industries has been pursuing a hostile acquisition of Terra since January of last year. However, Terra’s shareholders has been repeatedly rebuffing CF’s offer. In its last bid, CF had increased its offer price for Terra by 12% to $4.6 billion. CF Industries had bought about 7% of Terra, which it claims to have sold with a net gain that more than offset the expenses it incurred in connection with its proposed acquisition. Terra shares closed Thursday up 5 cents at $32.66, but lost $3.61 in aftermarket trading.

CF Industries now is likely to focus on fighting off its own hostile takeover by another rival

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CF Industries Holdings Inc. (CF) recently increased its offer for rival Terra Industries Inc. (TRA) to about $4.59 billion as it seeks to end an almost 11-month pursuit of the nitrogen-fertilizer maker. The offer represents an 18% premium over Terra’s closing price on Dec 4. The bid of $36.75 in cash and 0.1034 of a CF share for each share of Terra includes the $7.50 a share dividend Terra declared in September this year. CF’s previous offer was $32 in cash and 0.1034 of a CF share, including the dividend.

CF Industries has been seeking to acquire Terra since January, offering $2.1 billion while fending off a hostile bid from Agrium Inc. (AGU) itself. The outcome of the three-way battle will determine whether Agrium or CF will become the world’s second-largest publicly traded maker of nitrogen-based fertilizers. Terra has rebuffed CF’s previous offers on the ground of undervaluation.

CF

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Last week, Agrium Inc. (AGU) announced the acquisition of 24 retail outlets, including 18 farm centers and 6 satellites, from Agriliance. This acquisition has expanded Agrium’s retail operations in Texas and New Mexico. Along with the 24 retail outlets and associated working capital at these locations, Agrium acquired over 50,000 tons of fertilizer storage. The company expects annual crop input revenues of approximately $150 million from these retail outlets. Through this acquisition, Agrium reaffirmed its commitment to double the size of its retail business. Further, Agrium stated that it has not lost its focus on acquiring CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (CF). Earlier this month, the company had increased its offer to acquire all of the outstanding shares of CF Industries Holdings, Inc. Under the terms of the offer, stockholders would receive $45.00 in cash − an increase of $5.00 or 12.5% in the cash consideration ...

For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – October 28, 2009 – Zacks.com announces the list of stocks featured in the Analyst Blog. Every day the Zacks Equity Research analysts discuss the latest news and events impacting stocks and the financial markets. Stocks recently featured in the blog include: Johnson Controls (JCI), CF Industries Holdings Inc. (CF), Agrium Inc. (AGU), Terra Industries Inc. (TRA) and Hospira (HSP).

Get the most recent insight from Zacks Equity Research with the free Profit from the Pros newsletter: http://at.zacks.com/?id=5513

Here are highlights from Tuesday’s AnalystBlog:

Johnson Controls Maintains Profits

Johnson Controls (JCI) posted a profit of $402 million or 52 cents per share, excluding non-recurring items, for the fourth quarter of its fiscal year ended Sept. 30, 2009. This was above the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 48 cents per share. The

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CF Industries Holdings Inc. (CF) posted earnings of 78 cents in the third quarter of 2009, down from the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.01. Reported earnings were down 18% from 82 cents reported in the same quarter of the previous year on lower fertilizer sales. Sales of $430.1 million in the quarter reflected a decline of 58% year over year, primarily driven by lower price realizations for all products. Nitrogen Fertilizer Segment Nitrogen segment sales totaled $276.1 million, down 54% from $599.1 million in the 2008 third quarter on a 3% decline in volumes to 1.2 million tons. The quarter’s volume included about 132,000 tons of UAN and urea exports. Overall, average nitrogen selling prices remained depressing. Selling price for ammonia declined to $355 per ton from $571 in the second quarter of 2008. For UAN, the selling price was down to $155 per ton ...

Deerfield-based CF Industries Holdings Inc. (CF) filed a lawsuit against Terra Industries Inc. (TRA) to force the company to convene a shareholder meeting for a business combination being pushed by CF.

Fertilizer maker Terra responded that its board has decided to hold an annual meeting on Nov. 19. The company had postponed the meeting when larger rival CF Industries launched an unsolicited bid in April this year. In its statement, CF noted that Terra's last annual general meeting (AGM) was held nearly 16 months ago and according to law, AGMs must be held on an annual basis.

Terra repeatedly rebuffed CF’s takeover bid stating that the offer substantially undervalues the company. CF’s all-stock offer for Terra Industries has expired and the company does not plan to extend the offer because of opposition from Terra's board. However, CF stated that it continues to pursue Terra.

CF is offering a 35% premium in

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DrStockPick.com Stock Report!

Wednesday August 5, 2009

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Anadarko Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:APC) today announced that Jim Kleckner, Vice President, Operations, will present at the 2009 EnerCom Oil & Gas Conference in Denver, Colo. on Thursday, Aug. 13 at 10:30 a.m. MDT. A link to the webcast presentation will be available at www.anadarko.com. The replay also will be available on the company’s Web site for approximately 30 days following the event.

Terra Industries Inc. (NYSE:TRA) today confirmed receipt of a letter from CF Industries Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CF) in which CF Industries indicates that it is “prepared to enter into a merger agreement under which each Terra share would be exchanged for 0.465 of

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Calgary-based Fertilizer Company Agrium Inc. (AGU) has again extended its deadline for its hostile offer of $3.9 billion to buy out rival CF Industries Holdings Inc. (CF). Agrium has stretched the deadline to August 19 from the previous deadline of July 22, stating that only about 21% or 10.4 million shares of CF Industries have been tendered and not withdrawn from the exchange offer as of July 17, 2009.

On June 23, CF’s shareholders had tendered about 62% of their total outstanding shares in support of Agrium's current offer of $40 plus one Agrium share per CF share. This was at 59% premium to CF's closing price on February 24, 2009, when the offer was made. Soon after the tender results, Agrium had extended the deadline to acquire CF Industries to July 22, 2009.

CF had repeatedly rejected Agrium’s takeover offer. Despite two upward revisions in the offer price, CF

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Here are the stocks added to the Zacks #5 Rank ("strong sell") List today:

Administaff Inc (ASF) Aetna Inc (AET) BTU International Inc (BTUI) Capital Product Partners LP (CPLP) Carlisle Companies Inc (CSL) CF Industries Holdings Inc (CF) Chemtura Corp (CEMJQ) CommScope Inc (CTV) CommVault Systems Inc (CVLT) Exterran Partners LP (EXLP) Extra Space Storage Inc (EXR) G&K Services Inc (GKSR) Genzyme Corp (GENZ) HCP Inc (HCP) Integra LifeSciences Holdings Corp (IART) Lazard Ltd (LAZ) Matthews International Corp (MATW) Mindray Medical International Ltd (MR) Minerals Technologies Inc (MTX) The Mosaic Co (MOS) North Valley Bancorp (NOVB) P A M Transportation Services Inc (PTSI) Patriot Capital Funding Inc (PCAP) Patterson Companies Inc (PDCO) Paychex Inc (PAYX) Penford Corp (PENX) Penson Worldwide Inc (PNSN) ...