BASF Sweetens Evonik Bid to €24 While Promising No Layoffs Through 2032
Published on 10/27/2026 at 13:31 | Editorial boerse-global.de
BASF has attached a long-term employment guarantee to its pursuit of Evonik, adding a social dimension to a takeover campaign that remains, on the evidence available, entirely one-sided. Chief executive Markus Kamieth said in a video message on Thursday, reported by Reuters, that compulsory redundancies would be ruled out until 2032 and that collective bargaining agreements and social partnership structures would be left untouched.
The pledge speaks to the terms of a possible combination rather than to any agreement. It complements the financial offer without answering the question that matters most to shareholders: whether Evonik's management will enter talks on that basis.
A higher price, still short of a deal
Reuters reported Friday, citing people familiar with the matter, that BASF had lifted its proposal to €24 per share, valuing Evonik at more than €11 billion. The earlier approach stood at €22.15 per share. The Handelsblatt put the improved figure at roughly €24 per share, or €11.2 billion, and said Evonik had rejected the first approach as too low, with discussions continuing.
Bloomberg described the sweetened offer as non-binding. Evonik and the RAG-Stiftung declined to comment, and Evonik likewise gave dpa-AFX no statement on the report. One insider said the company was reviewing the bid — a procedural stage well short of approval or an agreed merger. The distinction between a reported price idea and a binding transaction survives the higher number intact.
Should investors sell immediately? Or is it worth buying Evonik?
DĂĽsseldorf draws a line
Political resistance surfaced in North Rhine-Westphalia, where the state government came out against the combination in the Landtag on 14 October. Economy minister Mona Neubaur simultaneously rejected an SPD proposal for the state to take a stake in Evonik. The two positions are separate: opposition to the takeover does not translate into support for a public entry into the shareholder register, and the rejection of the SPD idea should not be read as an announced financial intervention by the state.
That leaves investors weighing two distinct questions — whether a sale makes economic sense at the improved price, and whether the political objections to the merger itself can be overcome. A richer offer addresses the valuation; it does nothing about the reservations in Düsseldorf.
Evonik's own shopping list
Running alongside all of this, Evonik is examining a transaction of its own. Reuters reported Thursday that the group is reviewing a possible acquisition of the US specialty chemicals company Ashland, a process that began before BASF made its move. Evonik declined to comment, and no deal was said to be imminent. The Handelsblatt had earlier reported that the review was at an early stage and that completion was not assured.
Two strategic paths therefore sit side by side: Evonik as BASF's target, and Evonik as a buyer in its own right. Neither is a completed transaction. The employment commitments flesh out BASF's courtship, while the Ashland review opens a separate front. For investors, the bid price is only part of the picture — the next confirmed step from any of the parties is what counts.
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