On Wednesday, Illinois-based CF Industries announced that it had bought the remaining 50 percent stake in UK fertiliser company Growhow from Norwegian fertiliser giant Yara for $648 million (around £415m) in total.

Yara and CF Industries have each owned 50% of GrowHow since 2007 and 2010 respectively. GrowHow, which has two facilities at Ince, Cheshire and Billingham, Teeside, will now become a wholly owned subsidiary of CF, representing a foothold for the US-based company in Europe.

CF industries president Tony Will said on Wednesday, ”We are pleased to announce this agreement to acquire Yara’s interest in GrowHow. The operations have an advantaged position in an import-dependent region. The purchase of the remaining interest in GrowHow is a continuation of CF Industries’ track record of pursuing shareholder value-creating capital deployment.”

The two Growhow facilities have a total production capacity of approximately 0.8 million tons of ammonia, 1.1 million tons of ammonium nitrate and 0.5 million tons of compound NPK, and limited export possibilities, as the UK is reliant on imports of nitrogen fertiliser to meet demand. Imports of ammonium nitrate currently amount to 45% of the country’s total supply (625,000 tonnes).

In a statement, Yara president Torgeir Kvidal said, ”The final bid from CF represents an attractive value to Yara. We remain dedicated to British agriculture and look forward to continue to work with UK farmers to increase their yield and profitability with our high quality products and services. Furthermore, Yara's growth strategy remains on track, as we work hard both to deliver already committed projects and to develop our pipeline of new opportunities.”