Evonik's €24 Bid Runs Through Essen, Not Just Ludwigshafen
Published on 10/24/2026 at 13:11 | Editorial boerse-global.de
BASF has put a bigger number on the table for Evonik. Whether that number ever becomes a signed deal depends on a shareholder in Essen, a works council in Ludwigshafen, and competition regulators who have yet to weigh in.
Reuters reported Friday, citing two people familiar with the matter, that BASF raised its offer to around €24 per share, valuing Evonik at roughly €11.18 billion. The earlier approach had stood at about €22.15, a level Evonik rejected as too low. Neither Evonik nor BASF would comment, and the Rhein-Neckar-Zeitung carried the higher figure Friday without obtaining a statement from either company.
The stock added 3.4% on the report. That move reflects a warmer reception to the improved price, not confirmation that terms have been agreed. The proposal remains non-binding, and Evonik has said only that it will review it.
The owner who has not spoken
Evonik's largest shareholder is the RAG-Stiftung, and its position is the pivot on which the whole transaction turns. Europa Press described the foundation's backing on Friday as decisive for the outcome. No public endorsement of the sweeter offer has surfaced; Reuters said both Evonik and the foundation declined to comment.
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That silence separates a financially improved proposal from a workable agreement. Bridging the gap between what BASF will pay and what the foundation will accept is a different exercise from setting a headline price.
Promises with an asterisk
BASF chief executive Markus Kamieth made his pitch in a video message on Thursday, pledging to honor Evonik's existing site agreements and to rule out compulsory redundancies through 2032. Collective bargaining and social partnership arrangements would be left untouched, he said.
BASF was careful to add that Kamieth's statement does not constitute an offer; formal conditions would appear only in an offer document. Public assurances, in other words, are not yet fully drafted transaction terms.
The buyer's own workforce is watching just as closely. BASF works council chief Sinischa Horvat has demanded job security and investment commitments for Ludwigshafen, warning that financing the acquisition must not hollow out the site agreement there. Any concession extended to Evonik employees therefore has to sit comfortably with the interests of the acquiring company's own staff.
Scale that invites scrutiny
The industrial case has been aired too. ZDF reported Friday on complementary portfolios and potential gains in raw-material supply and value creation — arguments that justify examining a combination on commercial grounds, though they settle neither the ownership question nor antitrust objections.
One expert cited by ZDF noted that in individual specialty chemicals markets, BASF and Evonik together frequently hold more than 50% of the global market. A cartel review would therefore be pivotal. North Rhine-Westphalia opposes the takeover, according to the report.
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A separate shopping list
While BASF courts its larger rival, Evonik has acquisition ideas of its own. Handelsblatt reported Thursday that the company has been examining a possible purchase of US specialty chemicals group Ashland for some time, with several investment banks assisting the search for targets. That review is at an early stage and no deal is assured.
A strategic option is not a completed transaction, and the two takeover threads should not be read as a settled reshaping of Evonik.
The next confirmed date for corporate news is November 3, 2026, when Evonik plans to publish its quarterly statement for the third quarter of 2026. Until then, the reported BASF offer and Evonik's own ambitions sit side by side — each awaiting a conclusion that has yet to be confirmed.
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