The oil company Adnoc from the United Arab Emirates wants to buy the Leverkusen-based chemical company Covestro. The board of directors of Covestro decided on Monday to “enter into concrete negotiations with Adnoc from Abu Dhabi about a possible transaction and the possible conclusion of an investment agreement,” the company announced in Leverkusen.
Adnoc has announced an offer price of 62 euros per Covestro share; this means that Adnoc values Covestro at almost twelve billion euros.
Both companies have been in talks for months – Covestro announced this in September. According to media reports, Adnoc (Abu Dhabi National Oil Company) initially offered 55 euros per share, then 57 euros per share.
The “so far open-ended” talks have shown “that a common basic understanding of key core issues” can be achieved – also with regard to Covestro’s future growth strategy, the company announced on Monday. The board of directors has therefore decided to enter into concrete negotiations. If an agreement is reached, the respective bodies of the corporations and the responsible antitrust authorities must agree.
Covestro says it is one of the world’s leading plastics manufacturers. It supplies “customers around the globe in key industries such as mobility, construction and housing, as well as electrical and electronics.” The plastics are also used in areas such as sports and leisure, telecommunications, health, and in the chemical industry itself.
Covestro had sales of 14.4 billion euros in 2023. It produced at 48 sites worldwide and employed around 17,500 people. The company was created through a spin-off of the plastics division of the Bayer Group. Adnoc is owned by the state and is one of the largest exporters of crude oil in the world.