Wayne Brownlee, Chief Financial Officer of Canada’s Potash Corporation who took the company public in the late 1980s and helped it grow to eventually become the largest fertilizer producer in the world, has sold millions of dollars worth of Potash Corp’s stock. Mr Brownlee sold 585,000 shares of PotashCorp stock at the end of March, the company reported. Potash Corp’s spokesperson said that Mr Brownlee had a ten-year stock option due to expire. However, he continues to serve as the company’s CFO and Executive Vice-President.
Mr Brownlee supervised the privatization of Potash Corp, transforming it from a provincial Crown Corporation owned and run by the Government of Saskatchewan to a publicly traded company in 1989. In November 1989, the company’s shares traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange for CDN $18 per share.
In the 1990s, he served as head of expansion and development efforts, where he coordinated the acquisition of more than US$4 billion in assets. He was later appointed as Executive Vice President, Treasurer and in 2006 Chief Financial Officer. He also served as Senior Vice President, Expansion and Development, Vice President, Expansion and Development and Director of Business Development. Before joining PotashCorp, Mr Brownlee had worked for the Government of Saskatchewan’s Department of Finance and served as Associate Deputy Minister in the Treasury Board Division for three years.
PotashCorp is the world’s largest potash producer and the third biggest producer of nitrogen and phosphate. Four years ago, the company controlled 20 percent of the global potash production capacity. PotashCorp partly owns also Canpotex, which is in charge of potash exports from Saskatchewan, and is in joint venture with China’s Sinofert.
