BASF said to be working with banks to weigh counter bid for DuPont
Sunday, March 6, 2016 2:45 pm
LONDON (From Gulf News) -- BASF SE is working with advisers and financing banks to examine the merits of making a counter bid for DuPont Co, the $55 billion chemical company that agreed to a merger with Dow Chemical Co in December, people with knowledge of the matter said. Representatives of BASF and DuPont declined to comment. DuPont, based in Wilmington, Delaware, jumped 5.3 per cent in after-hours trading. BASF has a market value of about €58 billion ($64 billion). Dow, based in Midland, Michigan, has a market value of about $56 billion. DuPont discussed potential deals with multiple companies ahead of the Dec. 11 agreement with Dow, according to a March 1 regulatory filing by DowDuPont Inc, the name of the merged company. DuPont may be obligated to pay Dow a termination fee of $1.9 billion if it breaks the deal, the filing shows. Meanwhile, Dow and DuPont's merger of equals is the largest deal ever in the chemical industry, creating a company with combined market values of $111 billion and assembling the world's largest agriculture business. DowDuPont would be the world's second-biggest chemical company after BASF.
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