EX-99.(A)(1)(VIII) 2 dex99a1viii.htm PRESS RELEASE ISSUED BY OFFEROR AND BHP BILLITON ON SEPTEMBER 1, 2010 Press release issued by Offeror and BHP Billiton on September 1, 2010

Exhibit (a)(1)(viii)

LOGO

NEWS RELEASE

 

Release Time    IMMEDIATE
Date    1 September 2010

BHP BILLITON GROUP ANNOUNCES AMENDMENT TO OFFER DOCUMENTS

IN CONNECTION WITH OFFER TO ACQUIRE POTASHCORP

Vancouver, Canada, and New York, US, and London, UK, and Melbourne, Australia, 1 September 2010

BHP Billiton (ASX:BHP/LSE:BLT/NYSE:BHP and BBL/JSE:BIL) today announced that it has filed an amendment to the Tender Offer Statement on Schedule TO filed on August 20, 2010 in connection with the offer by BHP Billiton Development 2 (Canada) Limited (the “Offeror”), an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of BHP Billiton Plc, to acquire all of the issued and outstanding common shares of Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan Inc. (“PotashCorp”) (NYSE:POT/TSX:POT), at a price of US$130 in cash per PotashCorp common share (the “Offer”).

The amendment revises the offer and the circular and related letter of transmittal to reflect the receipt of certain exemptive relief from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) and to reflect certain other comments to such documents received from the staff of the SEC.

No changes have been made to the offer price or the other terms and conditions of the Offer. The Offer is open for acceptance until 11:59 p.m. (Eastern time) on 19 October 2010, or such later date or dates as may be fixed by the Offeror unless the Offer is withdrawn.

Further information on BHP Billiton can be found on our Internet site: www.bhpbilliton.com

Additional Information

IMPORTANT INFORMATION:

The Offer is being made by the Offeror, an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of BHP Billiton Plc. This announcement is for information purposes only and does not constitute or form part of any offer to purchase or any solicitation of any offer to sell PotashCorp’s common shares. The Offer (as the same may be varied or extended in accordance with applicable law) is being made exclusively by means of, and subject to the terms and conditions set out in, the offer and the circular, the letter of transmittal, the notice of guaranteed delivery and other related tender offer materials (the “Offer Materials”).

In connection with the Offer, the Offeror, BHP Billiton Limited and BHP Billiton Plc have filed with the Canadian securities regulatory authorities the Offer Materials and have filed with the SEC a Tender Offer Statement on Schedule TO (the “Schedule TO”), including the Offer Materials.


THE OFFER MATERIALS AND THE SCHEDULE TO, AS THEY MAY BE AMENDED FROM TIME TO TIME, CONTAIN IMPORTANT INFORMATION, INCLUDING THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF THE OFFER, THAT SHOULD BE READ CAREFULLY BEFORE ANY DECISION IS MADE WITH RESPECT TO THE OFFER. INVESTORS AND SECURITY HOLDERS MAY OBTAIN A FREE COPY OF THE OFFER MATERIALS AND OTHER DOCUMENTS FILED BY THE OFFEROR, BHP BILLITON LIMITED AND BHP BILLITON PLC WITH THE SEC AT THE WEBSITE MAINTAINED BY THE SEC AT WWW.SEC.GOV AND WITH THE CANADIAN SECURITIES REGULATORY AUTHORITIES AT WWW.SEDAR.COM. MATERIALS FILED WITH THE SEC OR THE CANADIAN SECURITIES REGULATORY AUTHORITIES MAY BE OBTAINED WITHOUT CHARGE AT BHP BILLITON’S WEBSITE, WWW.BHPBILLITON.COM, OR BY CONTACTING THE INFORMATION AGENTS FOR THE OFFER, MACKENZIE PARTNERS, INC. AND KINGSDALE SHAREHOLDER SERVICES INC., BY PHONE AT 1-800-322-2885 and 1-866-851-3215 RESPECTIVELY, OR BY EMAIL AT potash@mackenziepartners.com AND contactus@kingsdaleshareholder.com, RESPECTIVELY.

While the Offer is being made to all holders of PotashCorp common shares, the Offer is not being made or directed to, nor will deposits of PotashCorp common shares be accepted from or on behalf of, holders of PotashCorp common shares in any jurisdiction in which the making or acceptance of the Offer would not be in compliance with the laws of such jurisdiction. However, the Offeror may, in its sole discretion, take such action as it may deem necessary to extend the Offer in any such jurisdiction.

This announcement contains information, including information relating to PotashCorp, that has been derived from publicly available sources that have not been independently verified. No representation or warranty is made as to the accuracy, completeness or reliability of such information.

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This announcement may contain, in addition to historical information, certain forward-looking statements. Often, but not always, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as “plans”, “expects”, “expected”, “scheduled”, “estimates”, “intends”, “anticipates”, or “believes”, or variations of such words and phrases or state that certain actions, events or results “may”, “could”, “would”, “might” or “will” be taken, occur or be achieved. Such forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results, performance or achievements of the Offeror and BHP Billiton to differ materially from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements, including the risk that all conditions of the Offer will not be satisfied. Many of these risks and uncertainties relate to factors that are beyond BHP Billiton’s ability to control or estimate precisely, such as future market conditions, changes in regulatory environment and the behavior of other market participants. BHP Billiton cannot give any assurance that such forward-looking statements will prove to have been correct. The reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this announcement. BHP Billiton disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable law.

Nothing contained herein shall be deemed to be a forecast, projection or estimate of the future financial performance of any member of the BHP Billiton Group, PotashCorp or the enlarged BHP Billiton Group following completion of the Offer unless otherwise stated.


Australia

Amanda Buckley, Media Relations

Tel: +61 3 9609 2209 Mobile: +61 419 801 349

email: Amanda.Buckley@bhpbilliton.com

Kelly Quirke, Media Relations

Tel: +61 3 9609 2896 Mobile: +61 429 966 312

email: Kelly.Quirke@bhpbilliton.com

Fiona Martin, Media Relations

Tel: +61 3 9609 2211 Mobile: +61 427 777 908

email: Fiona.Martin2@bhpbilliton.com

Leng Lau, Investor Relations

Tel: +61 3 9609 4202 Mobile: +61 403 533 706

email: Leng.Y.Lau@bhpbilliton.com

Brendan Harris, Investor Relations

Tel: +61 3 9609 4323 Mobile: +61 437 134 814

email: Brendan.Harris@bhpbilliton.com

United Kingdom & South Africa

Andre Liebenberg, Investor Relations

Tel: +44 20 7802 4131 Mobile: +44 7920 236 974

email: Andre.Liebenberg@bhpbilliton.com

Illtud Harri, Media Relations

Tel: +44 20 7802 4195 Mobile: +44 7920 237 246

email: Illtud.Harri@bhpbilliton.com

Americas

Scott Espenshade, Investor Relations

Tel: +1 713 599 6431 Mobile: +1 713 208 8565

email: Scott.Espenshade@bhpbilliton.com

Ruban Yogarajah, Media Relations

Tel: US +1 713 966 2907 or UK +44 20 7802 4033

Mobile: UK +44 7827 082 022

email: Ruban.Yogarajah@bhpbilliton.com


 

BHP Billiton Limited ABN 49 004 028 077

Registered in Australia

Registered Office: 180 Lonsdale Street

Melbourne Victoria 3000 Australia

Tel +61 1300 55 4757 Fax +61 3 9609 3015

BHP Billiton Plc Registration number 3196209

Registered in England and Wales

Registered Office: Neathouse Place

London SW1V 1BH United Kingdom

Tel +44 20 7802 4000 Fax +44 20 7802 4111


 

Members of the BHP Billiton group which is headquartered in Australia