A Saskatchewan company nearly made history, but it might not be considered the good kind.

Australia's BHP Billiton attempted but failed to take over Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan.

 

Billiton made an unsolicited offer of $38.6 billion, but the board for the Saskatoon-based fertilizer giant quickly rejected the offer and went public saying Billiton was trying to steal the company with such a lowball offer.

 

If the offer had been accepted, it would have been the biggest foreign takeover of a Canadian business in the country's history.

 

The takeover bid, and PotashCorp's reaction, made headlines around the world. Premier Brad Wall weighed in on the takeover news, and added that Saskatchewan is continuing to make positive headlines worldwide:

 

 

Energy and Resources Minister Bill Boyd has indicated that even if Billiton, or any other company, is successful in a future takeover bid, PotashCorp's head offices must stay in Saskatchewan because of legislation passed a number of years ago.

 

PotashCorp was established in 1975 as a Saskatchewan Crown Corporation, and was privatized by the Grant Devine Government in 1989.

 

BHP Billiton's head offices are located in Melbourne, Australia, and it already has a presence in Saskatchewan with offices in Saskatoon, and plans to build a mine near Lanigan with projected production of 8 Million tonnes per year.