The Board of Management of the Leverkusen-based chemical group is ready for talks, the company announced at the end of last week.

After Covestro had rejected initial takeover offers from Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) in mid-June and the state-owned group from the United Arab Emirates is said to have subsequently further increased the offer amount, the Leverkusen-based plastics producer is now reporting the start of "open-ended negotiations" after all. For Covestro, it remains open "whether, in what form and, if so, on what terms" an agreement would be conceivable. According to media reports, Adnoc recently held out the prospect of a takeover price of 60 euros per share, or 11.6 billion euros. Financing future investments, the supply of green hydrogen and the company's assured independence could - as Kunststoff Information, among others, writes - be seen as further incentives for Covestro to consider a sale. So far, however, Covestro says it has not received an official offer from Adnoc. In a statement confirming the start of talks on the sale of Covestro to Adnoc, Covestro CEO Markus Steilemann said, "The interest in our company underscores our strong position as one of the world's leading manufacturers of high-quality plastics." In the event of an agreement, the German Dax group, which has around 18,000 employees and annual sales of €18 billion at last count, would be wholly or partially under Adnoc's control. With the investment, Adnoc aims to become less dependent on oil and gas production and to position itself more broadly with investments in renewable energies, among other things.
 
Sources:

• SZ (Sept. 10, 2023)
• KI (Sept. 11, 2023)
• Photo: © Covestro