Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. (Adnoc) is considering plans to acquire upstream oil and gas company Wintershall DEA, an affiliate of BASF SE, according to a Bloomberg report citing people with knowledge of the matter. A deal to acquire Wintershall DEA could be worth more than €10 billion, the report said. BASF and Adnoc declined to comment on the report.
BASF owns 72.7% of Wintershall DEA and investment company LetterOne has 27.3%. BASF has been exploring options to dispose of its Wintershall DEA stake, including a sale, for some time and it has taken a number of impairment charges against the stake over the past year. The €249 million net loss posted by BASF in the third quarter was driven mainly by losses at Wintershall DEA, the company said.
During BASF’s third-quarter earnings call with analysts, held on Oct. 31, CFO Dirk Elvermann said it was the company’s “strategic goal” to sell its stake in Wintershall DEA and that the company was working on “monetization options.”
Wintershall DEA is in the process of legally separating its Russia-related business and the separation is planned to be completed by mid-2024, Elvermann said. This would mark “an important milestone in the overall process,” he said.
In 2022, BASF received about €290 million as common dividend from Wintershall DEA, Elvermann said. “We do not expect any other dividend payments this year,” he said.
Wintershall DEA, meanwhile, has adjusted its corporate strategy to reflect “the changes in the energy sector and particularly its exit from Russia,” Elvermann said. The business is reorganizing its structure with a target of reducing administration costs by about €200 million on an annualized basis. The restructuring will result in about 500 job losses, he said.
The Bloomberg report said that other parties interested in acquiring Wintershall DEA include Harbour Energy PLC (London).
by Ian Young
Source: chemweek.com
PepsiCo Europe and crop nutrition company Yara have announced a long-term partnership aimed at providing European farmers with low-carbon crop nutrition solutions to help decarbonise the food value chain. Under the agreement, Yara will supply PepsiCo with up to 165,000 tons of fertiliser per year by 2030, covering around 25% of the food and beverage giant’s crop fertiliser needs across Europe.
BASF has signed an agreement to sell its flocculants business for mining applications to Solenis, a specialty chemicals manufacturer. The divestment of the flocculants business to Solenis is part of BASF’s ongoing portfolio optimisation with the aim of focusing on strategic core areas.
ADAMA Ltd. a leading crop protection company, announced that its board of directors has appointed Gaël Hili as its President and Chief Executive Officer, effective October 1, 2024. Hili will join the Syngenta Group Leadership Team and will be based in Tel Aviv.
