EU approves BASF’s €3bn Cognis acquisition

A BASF statement said the chemicals giant had won approval subject to the “divestiture of [Cognis] businesses that accounted for sales of significantly less than €100m, which is less than 3 per cent of total sales”. The Chinese authorities also approved the acquisition on Monday, meaning that the transaction now has, says BASF “approval from all relevant competition authorities” . UK site divested Given the divestiture caveat, BASF said it had “committed” to the EC to divest businesses and assets located at Cognis’ UK site in Hythe: namely its hydroxy methacrylates business, the multifunctional methacrylates (MFM) and adducts business, and plants for manufacture of polyalkylene glycols (PAG) and PAG-based lubricants. In June 2010, BASF first announced its agreement to acquire major food ingredients player Cognis for an equity purchase price of €700m, although the enterprise value of the transaction is €3.1bn when net debt and pension obligations are included.

EU approves BASF’s €3bn Cognis acquisition

The European Commission (EC) has approved BASF's acquisition of Cognis, with the takeover is expected to be finalised this month.

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