09-Sep-19 BASF SE and fine chemical company DIC Corp. have reached an agreement on the acquisition of BASF’s global pigments business. The purchase price on a cash and debt-free basis is €1.15 billion, in a transaction expected to close in Q4-2020. The divestiture is subject to the approval of the relevant competition authorities.
“We have achieved our goal to find an owner who considers pigments a core strategic business,” says Markus Kamieth, member of the Board of Executive Directors of BASF SE, responsible for the Industrial Solutions segment. “DIC pursues ambitious growth plans and has announced to further develop the business in the coming years. We are convinced that the pigments business will be able to unfold its full potential within DIC.”
“We have outlined a clear growth path for DIC with the target to increase our sales to 1 trillion yen, that is, approximately €8 billion, by 2025. In this context, BASF’s pigments portfolio is an important strategic addition in meeting our goals more expeditiously. It will allow us to expand our position as one of the leading pigment suppliers globally and offer our customers even more versatile solutions,” Kaoru Ino, president and CEO of DIC comments on the agreement reached. For Alexander Haunschild, senior vice president and managing director at BASF’s pigment-focused subsidiary BASF Colors & Effects, the agreement is a chance to continue the growth path started in 2016: “We see DIC as an owner who is willing to invest, committed to innovations and interested in the longer-term success of the business.”
