BHP Billiton says won't substantially raise its hostile bid for Potash

BHP Billiton, the world's biggest miner, says it won't substantially raise its hostile $39 billion bid for Potash even though its quarterly results show it has plenty of cash to go around.

"I will be as disciplined on this bid as I've been on every other endeavor," CEO Marius Kloppers told reporters today during a conference call. "The shareholders own the company and it's my job to create more value for them, not to do any one thing at any cost."

BHP's healthy results show it has the money to raise its $130-per-share offer for Potash, the top global fertilizer maker. But if its raises its bid by more than 22 percent the company would be required to seek deal approval from its own shareholders, under UK rules.

Potash last week adopted a 90-day shareholder rights plan in response to BHP's hostile bid.