Athabasca Potash Inc. is considering putting itself up for sale or merger after getting "broadly solicited expressions of interest" from prospective bidders on a strategic alliance to develop the Burr potash mine in Saskatchewan.
The Saskatoon-based potash producer said Thursday it has signed confidentiality agreements with a number of interested parties after beginning solicitations for a joint venture to develop Burr in March.
Stock in the company rose almost 40 per cent in early trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange, up $1.60 to $5.68.
"API has a number of potential opportunities arising during its search for a potential strategic alliance which need to be advanced," Dawn Zhou, Athabasca Potash founder, director and special committee member said in a statement.
Athabasca Potash said it has held discussions with a number of suitors for a possible alliance to develop Burr, a major potash deposit with an indicated mineral resource of 425 million tonnes.
Following those discussions, the company said it has "expanded the scope of transactions it is considering from joint ventures and other forms of direct participation in the development and financing of the Burr project to include potential mergers or potential acquisitions of all or a portion of the company or its business."
"During our efforts to advance an alliance... it also became clear that we might need to consider a broader range of transactional structures that were being presented to us and which might provide value to our shareholders," said special committee chairman John King Burns.
Athabasca Potash cautioned that its talks were preliminary and there was no assurance a deal would be done.