“With the sale of our Americas salt business, we are taking a giant step in reducing debt,” Chairman Dr. Burkhard Lohr said. “We are thus creating a solid financial basis for the sustainable development of the company.” The Americas operating unit mainly comprises K+S Chile, formerly known as the Chilean company SPL, acquired in 2006, as well as Morton Salt (USA) and K+S Windsor Salt (Canada), acquired in 2009.

“With its iconic Morton Salt brand and other industry leading products and solutions, the combination of the Americas salt business with SCIH’s Kissner Group Holdings allows us to expand our product offerings to consumers along with our existing government and commercial customers,” SCIH Co-CEO James Fordyce said. “The Americas salt business adds an integral component to SCIH’s long-term, growth-oriented business model.” As expected, the high level of interest in the attractive Americas salt business resulted in a generally rapid negotiation process and led to the signing of the agreement in the current financial year as anticipated, the company said.