Evonik is defending itself against chemical giant BASF

Chemical industry Evonik resists merger with BASF As of: November 3rd, 2026 • 3:59 p.m

It would be the largest merger in the German chemical industry: If BASF and Evonik merged, a group would be created with annual sales of around 74 billion euros. But Evonik is still resisting.

The executives of the two companies address the public in video messages: BASF CEO Markus Kamieth promotes the merger, Evonik's CFO Michael Rauch explains why the Essen-based company doesn't want it. BASF has now increased its offer to 24 euros per share, which would be around eleven billion euros in total. But Evonik also rejected this offer.

The Board of Directors considers the group to be better positioned on its own and is only prepared to exchange information confidentially with BASF. In Essen there is a great fear that people will be swallowed up by the much larger Ludwigshafen residents.

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The quarterly figures now presented give Evonik's management a boost, as sales rose more sharply than they have in four years: in the third quarter compared to the same period last year by 13 percent to 3.8 billion euros. The adjusted operating profit even increased by 40 percent to 629 million euros. However, the bottom line was a loss of 53 million euros. The reason for this is, among other things, provisions of 313 million euros for the extended savings program. Further costs are to be reduced by 2029, including by cutting 3,200 jobs worldwide.

However, Rettig is more confident for the year as a whole: Evonik continues to expect an adjusted operating profit of between two and 2.2 billion euros.

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Unlike BASF, Evonik sees itself as a specialty chemicals company. What this means is shown by a current event at the Goldschmidtstrasse location in Essen: The group has put a new plant for special silicones into operation there. The facility and a new tank farm cost around 52 million euros. The products are needed for insulation materials, mattresses, car seats, adhesives, paints and cosmetics, among other things.

With the investment, Evonik wants to expand its production capacities, shorten transport routes and make supplies to its customers more reliable. The aim is to strengthen Essen, with around 2,200 employees, as an important production and development location.

But the discussion about a merger is not just about the struggle between two companies, but also about politics and locations. The RAG Foundation holds around 43 percent of Evonik shares. It must use the income from its assets to finance the permanent follow-up costs of hard coal mining, such as pumping out mine water. Its board of trustees includes politicians from the federal government, the prime ministers of North Rhine-Westphalia and Saarland, municipalities as well as trade union and business representatives.

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The interests are not aligned: a sale or exchange of Evonik shares could generate high income for the foundation and thus secure the financing of the follow-up mining costs. However, a merger could cost jobs and locations - especially in Essen. BASF promises to keep existing employment and location commitments. But concerns about future job cuts remain.

For politics in the Ruhr area, there is more at stake than the price of a share: it is about jobs and the future of the important industrial location in the Ruhr area - and that just a few months before the state elections in North Rhine-Westphalia.

Economics Minister Mona Neubaur (Alliance 90/Greens) made the state government's position clear in a state parliament debate: "We want the employees to stay. We stand by this location and it is therefore clear that we are against this takeover."

This topic in the program: NDR Info | News | Oct 28, 2026 | 4:41 p.m