PotashCorp, Agrium reveal new name ahead of merger

Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan and Agrium Inc. have picked the new name they’ll operate under once they’re allowed to proceed with a proposed merger.

The new company will be called Nutrien, operating with the slogan “Feeding the Future.”

The companies chose the name after looking at more than 4,000 submissions from their employees.

Two employees, one from each company, who came closest to the name Nutrien were rewarded with a trip to New York City, where they’ll ring the bell at the stock exchange this fall.

PotashCorp director of media relations Randy Burton told 650 CKOM the process took about four months to complete.

“Just looking through the alphabetical list, we had everything from ‘Abundantly’ to ‘Zonterra,'” he said of the submitted names.

“We really had everything from A to Z.”

Burton said the rebranding would cost the new merged company a “significant” amount of money, and take some time.

Many events and community spaces in Saskatchewan and Alberta are sponsored by PotashCorp and Agrium, including the PotashCorp Children’s Festival and Labour Day fireworks show in Saskatoon.

“It’s going to take some time,” he said. “Over the next few years we’ll be working on that rebrand.”

In a media release issued Wednesday, Agrium and PotashCorp said they expect regulators to finish looking over the merger in coming months, with the deal expected to be completed in the third quarter of 2017.

The new company will keep its registered headquarters in Saskatoon, but will maintain a corporate presence in Calgary, where Agrium is currently based.

The companies have previously indicated that current Agrium CEO Chuck Magro will fill the same role in the combined firm. PotashCorp CEO Jochen Tilk will become Nutrien’s executive chairman.

Once the merger goes through, Nutrien will become one of the world’s largest producers and retailers of fertilizer products, with about 20,000 employees operating in 18 countries.