US oil and gas player Apache Corporation has wrapped up its $US6 billion exit from Australia with the $US391 million sale of its stake in a fertiliser plant in Western Australia's Pilbara region to its joint venture partner, Norway's Yara International. 
The sale of Apache's 49 per cent interest in Yara Pilbara Holdings was the third deal involved with the US company's withdrawal from Australia following the $US3.75 billion sale of LNG interests to Woodside Petroleum and the $US1.9 billion sale of gas assets to Brookfield Asset Management and Macquarie Capital.
Apache decided last year to refocus on its home market in North America and to exit overseas activities in countries including Australia. After originally considering a potential IPO of the Australian business, the Houston-based company eventually decided on trade sales
Yara Pilbara owns an 850,000 tonnes a year ammonia plant and a stake in an ammonium nitrate plant which is within weeks of beginning production. It had raw earnings of $US218 million in 2014.
Yara chief executive Svein Tore Holsether said the takeover would involved "limited efforts to fully integrate" given the Pilbara plants were already operated by Yara.
"The investment will also yield synergies within governance and tax structure," Mr Holsether said.