It appears that the potash sweepstakes are over. As reported earlier, the Canadian Federal Government flagged BHPB's bid on 4 November, and now that bid has been officially withdrawn. No other bids have surfaced, and they would seemingly be moot at this point anyhow.
As the dust settles, various stakeholders will be assessing their positions. The investment bankers and lawyers are of course winners, as they have a payday no matter what. Past this we are not sure who benefits. PotashCorp's shareholders, who were probably hoping for a bidding war and a payout, are likely disappointed. Prognosticating further... we would guess that potash prices are going up, as well as BHPB's shares. On the other hand, PotashCorp shares will probably linger. The markets will tell us more as time passes.
BHPB's withdrawal press release is quite informative, outlining the significant commitments that they were willing to make to the Canadian Federal and the Saskatchewan Provincial Governments to earn their "Social License". The Federal Government is also expected to elaborate on why BHPB's offer proposal was rejected, as well as to provide "guidance" to investors on what kinds of foreign takeovers it will tolerate going forward.
No doubt both pundits and punters will be sifting through the ashes of this deal for some time to come.