Hedge Fund Grabs Fistful of Fertilizer

TERRA INDUSTRIES has been entwined in a tangled web of takeover offers in the last few months. Now a hedge-fund heavyweight raised its stake in the nitrogen and phosphate producer, and will likely weigh in on the debate.

On May 11, Steven Cohen's SAC Capital disclosed that it now owns 5,120,500 shares, a 5.2% stake in Terra. This is up significantly from the firm's 380,200 shares that it disclosed at the end of the fourth quarter of 2008.

The fund listed May 7 as the day it reached the ownership threshold that triggered the disclosure.