The chemical company BASF from Ludwigshafen has set its sights on its Essen-based competitor Evonik: âIn response to current press reports, the board of Evonik Industries AG confirms that it has received a non-binding approach from BASF SE,â said Evonik in an ad hoc announcement on Friday afternoon. The address was aimed at âa voluntary public takeover offer for all shares in the companyâ. However, there are currently no discussions between the two companies. Evonik did not want to comment on the matter beyond that.
BASF also did not comment on this. At first glance, the offer raises many questions. Finally, in response to the rapidly changing conditions in Europe, the Group's board of directors issued the motto to concentrate on the core businesses, stop loss-makers and close plants that are no longer profitable in Europe for the foreseeable future.
He also initiated extensive cost reductions. For the first time since 1954, the number of employees at the major Ludwigshafen site has fallen below 30,000. At the beginning of the year, CFO Dirk Elvermann told the F.A.Z: "We still have a solid rating, but net debts of around 20 billion euros. This is not a level that we want to see permanently at this level. Our goal is to significantly reduce financial debts next year."
It would be one of the largest takeovers in the German chemical industry
At the same time, Evonik has long been considered the company in the European chemical industry that would by far best complement BASF's portfolio. BASF is apparently counting on the fact that the negotiations, if they reach their goal, will take some time. By the time payday arrives, the crop protection division could be positioned and the cash register filled accordingly, according to the company.
The purchase would be one of the largest ever in the German chemical industry. And it would create by far the largest player in the global chemical industry. Evonik has a market capitalization of 8.5 billion euros. Including debt, the company's value is around 12 billion euros.
Some BASF investors apparently also like the logic. Arne Rautenberg from the cooperative Union Investment said in an initial reaction on Friday that Evonik's product portfolio was complementary to BASF. "With the takeover of Evonik, BASF could strengthen its position in specialty chemicals and increase utilization. The industrial logic is there."
A key industry is under pressure
The fact is: the German chemical industry, still the largest in the world, is under pressure. Energy prices are no longer competitive on an international scale, the most important customer - the automotive industry - is having major problems, and the largest export market, China, is itself suffering from overcapacity. A consolidation of the European industry is therefore considered inevitable. Everyone talks to everyone, the industry says.
The Essen-based RAG Foundation, which was founded to deal with the perpetual burdens of hard coal mining, holds around 43 percent of Evonik. The foundation also confirmed on Friday afternoon âthat we had been approached by BASF about a possible voluntary public takeover offer from BASF for Evonik.â The foundation does not provide any further details.
A few days ago, however, the foundation's chief financial officer, Kerstin Terhardt, confirmed in an interview with the F.A.Z. that she wanted to reduce the stake in Evonik to 25.1 percent in the future. âEvonik is a strong dividend stock, which is valuable for a foundation that has to generate ongoing interest every year,â Terhardt said. âBut it is also a highly concentrated asset and we want to reduce our overall concentration risks.â However, she spoke of wanting to do this âgraduallyâ, that is, step by step.
The RAG Foundation's board of trustees includes politicians from North Rhine-Westphalia and representatives of the IGBCE union. It is difficult to imagine whether they are interested in getting rid of Evonik in favor of Rhineland-Palatinate ownership.
Stricter job cuts plans at Evonik
Overall, like many companies in the industry, Evonik is currently in troubled waters. The board around interim boss Claus Rettig is in the middle of implementing a major savings program. Among other things, a factory closure in Germany and extensive job cuts are planned.
The company had recently tightened its plans to cut jobs again. Evonik now wants to cut another 3,200 jobs by the end of 2029, including 2,150 in this country. This follows seamlessly on from an ongoing shrinking and dismantling program that has been running since 2023. Depending on which partial sales can still be realized by 2030, Evonik could then have up to 10,000 fewer employees than seven years ago, when the group still employed around 34,000 people. For comparison: BASF still employs around 95,000 people.
Special boom due to global supply chain disruptions
Evonik has been shrinking for years. In 2025, the group had sales of around 14.1 billion euros, which corresponds to a decrease of seven percent compared to the previous year. However, in the last financial quarter, Evonik and BASF performed unexpectedly well. The disruptions to shipping and supply chains caused by the war in Iran and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz particularly slowed down competitors outside of Europe.
Market leader BASF wants to concentrate its business primarily on basic chemicals and raw materials for further processing, for example in the plastics industry, which can be produced particularly efficiently in joint production. Two years ago, the board put a significant part of the portfolio - 25 billion euros of the 69 billion euros in sales generated at the time - up for disposal in a remarkable U-turn. They should be managed independently and âoptionsâ should be sought for them.
He has now sold large parts of it, including the paint business, and stopped investments in the disappointing battery chemicals business. By far the largest chunk, the crop protection division Agricultural Solutions Germany, is scheduled to go public next year. The aim of the group is to expand its strengths in the future in order to force weaker basic chemical suppliers for the European industry out of the market.
