A wheat field in Tandil, in the province of Buenos Aires. United Phosphorus says that the acquisition provides it with a "much stronger platform" to expand and strengthen its business in Argentina Photo: Francisco Cauterucci

United Phosphorus is continuing its acquisition strategy with the purchase of the Argentinian agrochemical company, ICONA (Buenos Aires), for $10 million in cash. The deal includes all stocks, product registrations, manufacturing sites and other property rights associated with the ICONA business, including ICONA San Luis.

Phosphorus says. ICONA has manufacturing plants at Capilla del Senor near Buenos Aires and at Justo Daract in the province of San Luis. The company also has its own distribution network covering more than 1,000 customers.

United Phosphorus says that the acquisition provides it with a "much stronger platform" to expand and strengthen its business in Argentina. It is already present in the market through the agrochemical manufacturer and distributor, Reposo, which it purchased in 2005 (Agrow No 483, p 1). The local market is going to be "very good" in view of the strong agricultural commodity prices, United Phosphorus says. After "considerable" growth organically and through acquisitions in the US, Europe and India, United Phosphorus has been seeking growth opportunities in other global markets, it points out.

This is United Phosphorus' third acquisition this year and follows the purchase of: DuPont's fenbutatin oxide acaricide and fentin hydroxide fungicide businesses (Agrow No 523, p 1); and the US agrochemical company, Cerexagri (Agrow No 513, p 1).

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