In a deal that would combine Germany’s two largest chemical makers, BASF, the world’s largest chemical company, says it is in talks to purchase Evonik Industries.
In recent years, both firms have been hammered in Europe by high production costs, cheap imports, and moribund regional demand. Both firms have responded by cutting costs and trimming their portfolios.
BASF, which generated $67.4 billion in sales in 2025, has reduced costs by about $2 billion since 2023 and has cut its payroll by about 4,800 positions over the past 2 years.
In 2024 BASF’s CEO Marcus Kamieth announced a strategy to focus on its core basic chemical, specialty chemical, and materials businesses. It subsequently sold a majority stake in its coatings business, one of world’s largest producers of automotive paints, to the Carlyle Group. It is also planning to spin off its agricultural chemical unit next year.
Evonik, which had sales of $15.9 billion in 2025, has been similarly downsizing. In June it announced it would cut 3,200 jobs, mostly in Germany, over the next 2 years. It has also been trimming businesses. For example, Evonik sold its superabsorbent polymer business to International Chemical Investors Group in 2024 and has long been trying to sell its C4 chemical business.
The two firms have fairly different portfolios with limited areas of overlap. Both produce plastics additives and chemicals for personal care products. Another fit is in polymers, where Evonik would bring specialty materials such as nylon 12 and polyetheretherketone to BASF’s stable of engineering plastics.
BASF stresses that the talks, with management at Evonik and with RAG-Stiftung, a German coal-mining firm that owns 44% of Evonik, are exploratory. “As part of its corporate strategy, BASF continuously evaluates the strategic option of acquisitions that strengthen its core businesses,” the company says in a statement.
