REGINA, Saskatchewan (Reuters) - The government of Saskatchewan said on Wednesday it still sees no "net benefit" from a BHP Billiton takeover of Saskatchewan-based Potash Corp , a position that could derail BHP's $39 billion offer for the fertilizer giant.
"We are going to be making the final decision today -- our cabinet and our caucus -- and then we will announce our final decision in respect to the takeover tomorrow," the Canadian province's premier, Brad Wall, told journalists in Regina, the provincial capital, before meeting with his cabinet.
On Tuesday, sources told Reuters that the BHP had failed to meet the demands that Saskatchewan had made to secure its backing for BHP's hostile takeover bid.
Saskatchewan is concerned that it will lose about C$3 billion ($2.9 billion) in revenues over the next 10 years if the deal goes through due to the manner in which royalty payments are structured within the province.
Saskatchewan will play a key advisory role as the federal government in Canada decides whether to approve BHP's bid for Potash, or any other foreign bid that may emerge, as being of net benefit to Canada.
The federal government has stated that it intends to pay close heed to Saskatchewan's stand in the matter. Wall said he takes Ottawa at its word and believes that the federal government will strongly consider Saskatchewan's views.
(Reporting by Rod Nickel and Euan Rocha; editing by Peter Galloway)
