Norway likely to maintain Yara stake post-merger

Oslo

NORWAY would probably spend billions of dollars to maintain its stake in Yara International ASA if a merger being discussed occurs with CF Industries Holdings Inc, parties representing a majority of Norway's Parliament say.

The Conservative and Progress parties and the opposition Labour Party said they favour keeping minority control of Yara to ensure the fertiliser producer stays based in Oslo.

"That's totally unproblematic," Oeyvind Korsberg, the Progress Party spokesman for trade, said in a phone interview last Saturday. "The state is overflowing with money, we're injecting money in busin…