From the Company:
The Mosaic Company announced today that a secondary offering (the "offering") of 100 million shares of its common stock, related to Cargill, Incorporated's exchange of its approximately 64 percent interest in Mosaic with Cargill stockholders and certain debt holders, has priced at a public offering price of $65 per share.A quick hit from Notable Calls:
The secondary offering is comprised of 92.5 million shares owned by Cargill's debt holders following a debt-for-equity exchange and 7.5 million shares owned by a charitable trust and foundation formed through the estate planning of Margaret A. Cargill. In addition, the underwriters have been granted a 30-day option to purchase up to 15 million additional shares from certain of the selling stockholders to cover over-allotments, if any.
The shares to be sold in the offering consist of common stock of GNS II (U.S.) Corp., currently a wholly-owned subsidiary of Mosaic. Pursuant to the restructuring transactions related to the split-off of Mosaic from Cargill, GNS II will become the parent of Mosaic and will be renamed The Mosaic Company. Completion of the offering will be conditioned on completion of the restructuring transactions. Neither Mosaic nor GNS II will receive any proceeds from the offering and there will be no change to the number of outstanding shares or earnings per share of Mosaic as a result of the transaction. The offering, as well as the transactions described above, including the recapitalization of Mosaic stock, is expected to close on May 25, 2011. ...MORE
Susquehanna's Don Carson, the Axe in Mosaic (NYSE:MOS) is upgrading his rating to Positive from Neutral this morning with a $87 price tag (prev. unch).UPDATE: the longer version is now posted "Follow-up: "Mosaic: Upgraded to Positive from Neutral at Susquehanna" (MOS)"
The 100 million share offering was priced @ $65 & I suspect the thing was a consensus short ahead of it.
The buyers here aren't flippers.
Carson's the Axe in the name, I'm told.
Probably means the stock is a buy here.
And from last January:
Insta-Charity: $4Billion from Mosaic Deal Moves Margaret Cargill Foundation into Top 15 Philanthropies(MOS)
Well, insta if you don't count the wait while the family sorted things out.
From the Minneapolis StarTribune:
Cargill Foundation to get big-bucks boost
The $8 billion deal will give the Margaret A. Cargill Foundation instant clout to attack global problems.
After years of waiting, a stock deal is finally freeing up the money that will make the local Margaret A. Cargill Foundation one of the nation's biggest philanthropies, the donor of millions of dollars in Minnesota and across the globe.
A business move announced by Cargill Inc. last week means the foundation and a sister philanthropy -- Anne Ray Charitable Trust -- could split an estimated $8 billion.
That transforms the Margaret A. Cargill Foundation into one of the nation's 15 biggest foundations by assets and makes it at least twice the size of Minnesota's next-largest foundation, the McKnight Foundation.
The foundation finally can ramp up its grant-making for environmental programs, arts and culture, and "relief, recovery and development" -- top priorities as it flings open its doors. Although its vision is global, Minnesota will usually get a slice of program funding, staff said.
"Since 2006 [when Margaret Cargill died at age 85] it's been --'When can we actually start making grants?'" said Sallie Gaines, foundation spokesperson. "Just knowing we will be able to burst forth from the starting line is really exciting."
The Cargill heiress' fortune had been tied up in stock in the private company founded by her grandfather, and it could not be publicly traded. But the Cargill company's decision last week to divest its stake in local fertilizer giant Mosaic Co. was designed to free up cash for Margaret Cargill's trusts.
Her Cargill stock will be swapped for Mosaic shares, which are publicly traded and therefore easily converted to cash. At today's market prices, those shares are worth about $8 billion, of which $4 billion will go to the foundation.
"We will finally have the cash to fulfill Margaret's vision," Gaines said.
To put those assets in perspective, only eight foundations in the nation have $5 billion or more in assets.
While Minnesota nonprofits are likely to benefit from the foundation's stepped-up grantmaking, one stands out in particular. The American Swedish Institute in Minneapolis is particularly well-placed. It is one of about a dozen nonprofits funded by the Anne Ray Charitable Trust, a separate philanthropy founded by Margaret Cargill in 1996 that is slated to receive $4 billion....MORE
