(Reuters) - Agrium Inc (>> Agrium Inc.) and Potash Corp of Saskatchewan (>> Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan Inc) shareholders will hold separate meetings next month to vote on a merger agreement between the two fertilizer companies, they said in a filing on Thursday.

The all-stock deal would combine Potash's crop nutrient production capacity, the world's largest, with Agrium's farm retail network, North America's biggest.

Agrium shareholders will meet in Calgary, Alberta on Nov. 3, while Potash investors meet the same day in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Potash shareholders would own 52 percent of the new company.

The deal, which requires two-thirds approval by shareholders of each company, is expected to be completed by mid-2017, pending regulator review.

The companies began discussing in March 2015, ways to combine phosphate fertilizer assets, but they eventually broadened discussions into a merger in February, 2016, according to the filing.

(Reporting by Rod Nickel in Winnipeg, Manitoba; Editing by Sandra Maler)

Stocks treated in this article : Agrium Inc., Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan Inc