The board of directors of both companies agreed to a recommended merger of their businesses earlier this week.

Uralkali will be the surviving entity following the proposed combination and will be traded on the RTS, Micex and the London Stock Exchange. The proposed Merger requires the approval of both sets of shareholders and is subject to government approval and regulatory filings.

VTB Capital acted as joint financial Adviser with Goldman Sachs and sole fairness opinion adviser to Uralkali. VTB Capital said it also acted as adviser and financing partner on the acquisition of a majority stake in Uralkali by the largest shareholder earlier this year.

Mikhail Butrin, co-head of global banking at VTB Capital, said: “The transaction will be one of the largest M&A transactions in Russian corporate history. It will also be one of the largest European transactions this year and is expected to be one of the highest profile Natural Resource transactions globally.