Overview
- Evonik, which formally rejected BASF’s approach on Friday, said its board will not enter takeover negotiations but is willing to hold a purely confidential and informative exchange with BASF.
- BASF has publicly pushed the case for a merger as a way to create a stronger global competitor and has offered to keep site agreements and tariff arrangements in place with no operational dismissals until 2032.
- Media reports said BASF had discussed an offer near €24 per share, a price that analysts note was above the market level but did not persuade Evonik’s board to begin talks.
- The RAG-Stiftung, which holds roughly 43 percent of Evonik’s shares and has a kuratorium made up largely of politicians and union figures, is now the central actor that any bidder must convince.
- The outcome matters for thousands of workers and for operation of Evonik’s chemical parks, and it will be watched for its wider signal on further consolidation in the European chemical industry.