Mexico’s Fertinal Eyes Financing Options

Fertinal, a privately held Mexican fertilizer producer, is seeking capital to restart operations and considering a number of options, including private equity and debt placements, say people close to the company. The Michoacan-headquartered producer, owned by the Covarrubias family, ran into trouble over the past several years and is emerging from bankruptcy. It hired UBS to advise on financing and strategic options, say executives familiar with the plans. A banker away from the company speculates that Fertinal’s enterprise value could be north of $2bn, while people closer to the firm say it has yet to provide production and revenue figures and any guess at values will be off the mark.