K+S Completes Acquisition of Sociedad Punta de Lobos

A new dimension to the growth of the salt business

The acquisition of the Chilean salt producer Sociedad Punta de Lobos (SPL) by K+S Aktiengesellschaft was concluded on 29 June 2006. K+S bought 99.3% of the company for just under € 385 million; after deducting the debts taken over by K+S, the purchase price comes to about € 365 million. The business is being taken over retroactively with effect from 1 May 2006.

With this acquisition, which was already agreed upon last April, K+S is assuming a new role in international salt business. Says Dr. Ralf Bethke, chairman of the K+S Board of Executive Directors: "With SPL we are providing the K+S Group with an excellent basis for further sustainable growth. Now we must make use of the available opportunities together and briskly expand our salt business from this strong position. We expect the transaction to already have a positive impact on our earnings in the current financial year."

SPL is South America’s biggest salt producer. It obtains salt very cost-effectively from an open-cast mine in the Atacama Desert and also produces sea salt from its own facility in Brazil. In addition, with Empremar S.A., SPL operates its own shipping company in Chile and it owns the distribution company ISCO in the United States. SPL’s headquarters are in Santiago de Chile. The chief sales markets are South America and the east coast of North America. Almost 850 people are employed in the production plants, sales organisation and logistical units. In the near future, K+S plans to extend a purchase offer to the remaining minority shareholders who, together, hold 0.7% of the shares.

In this transaction, K+S, Europe’s leading salt producer in the shape of esco – european salt company, was advised by the Investmentbank AssetChile, the law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, and the auditing firm Price Waterhouse Coopers. The purchase price was financed by the Deutsche Bank in the form of a syndicated loan.

Experience growth

The K+S Group is one of the world’s leading suppliers of specialist and standard fertilizers, plant care and salt products. Achieving healthy and sustained growth is our goal as a company and a challenge at the same time. We offer agriculture, industry and private consumers a broad range of services in the form of tailor-made products and branded goods that serve as the basis for growth in almost all areas of day-to-day life. The K+S Group employs about 11,000 people around the world and in 2005 posted revenues of € 2.8 billion. K+S is quoted on all German stock exchanges (ISIN: DE0007162000, symbol: SDF) and in the MDAX share index.

Information for editors:

You can also download this press release and a selection of press photographs from the K+S website at http://www.k-plus-s.com.

Contact / Media:

Mr. Ulrich Göbel
Phone: +49 561 9301-1722
Fax: +49 561 9301-1666
mailto:ulrich.goebel@k-plus-s.com

Contact / Public Relations:

Mr. Christian Herrmann
Phone: +49 561 9301-1460
Fax: +49 561 9301-2425
mailto:christian.herrmann@k-plus-s.com