Germany summit: “Two strong players”: BASF boss explains takeover plans for Evonik

Berlin. BASF boss Markus Kamieth sees the chemical industry facing a major wave of takeovers and mergers. “As market leaders, we want to take advantage of our opportunities,” he said on Wednesday at the German summit organized by Handelsblatt and WirtschaftsWoche in Berlin.

A few weeks ago, BASF made a purchase offer for its Essen-based competitor Evonik for around ten billion euros. Evonik's board of directors rejected the offer.

Kamieth did not specifically address the current offer to Evonik on the podium at the Germany summit. However, he justified the interest in takeovers with industrial logic. “A combination of BASF and another strong player in specialty chemicals makes a lot of sense,” he said. BASF could also contribute its strength in basic chemistry to such a connection.

Evonik is number two in Germany after BASF and focuses on lucrative specialty chemical products. These were the CEO's first public words after the move became known. So far, BASF has only confirmed explorations with Evonik, the progress and outcome of which are open.