The company's head office and manufacturing site in Ince has 400 employees and produces 1 million tonnes of fertiliser per year.

Illinois-based CF Industries Holdings has reached an agreement with Yara International ASA to acquire its 50 per cent equity interest in GrowHow UK, making the Ince-headquartered business a wholly-owned subsidiary.

When the deal completes, the GrowHow business will be consolidated into CF Industries with a cash-free, debt-free balance sheet.

Tony Will, president and chief executive of CF Industries Holdings, said GrowHow's operations have an "advantaged position in an import-dependent region".

"We know GrowHow well and expect a mid-teens return profile for the acquisition," he added. "The purchase of the remaining interest in GrowHow is a continuation of CF Industries' track record of pursuing shareholder value-creating capital deployment."

The Ince facility in Cheshire consists of an ammonia plant, three nitric acid plants, an ammonium nitrate plant and three NPK fertiliser compound plants. GrowHow operates from a 617.8-acre site next to the Manchester Ship Canal where it makes nitrogenous fertiliser based on ammonium nitrate and is the largest UK producer of true granular compound fertilisers.

Meanwhile, the company's Billingham operation consists of an ammonia plant, three nitric acid plants, a carbon dioxide plant and an AN fertiliser plant.

As of 31 May 2015, prior to purchase accounting and on a US generally accepted accounting principles basis, GrowHow had total inventories of £66m, receivables of £41m, and fixed assets of £195m. The company also had current liabilities of £43m, long-term payables of £14m, and a net pension deficit of £90m.

The final purchase price is subject to closing adjustments, and the completion of the transaction is subject to customary closing conditions and is expected to occur later this year.