LUDWIGSHAFEN, GERMANY: BASF has reached an agreement to sell its global pigments business to DIC, for €1.15 billion. The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2020.
DIC is a Japanese company listed at the Tokyo Stock Exchange with about 20,000 employees globally. The company headquartered in Tokyo was founded in 1908, is active in more than 60 countries and generated sales of approximately 800 billion yen in 2018. This corresponds to about €6.8 billion. Under the slogan “Color & Comfort,” DIC is active in three segments: Packaging & Graphics, Functional Products and Color & Display. Color & Display includes a portfolio of pigments.
BASF’s pigments business with around 2,600 employees globally generated sales of approximately €1 billion in 2018.
“We have achieved our goal to find an owner who considers pigments a core strategic business. DIC pursues ambitious growth plans and has announced to further develop the business in the coming years. We are convinced that the pigments business will be able to unfold its full potential within DIC,” said Dr. Markus Kamieth, member of the Board of Executive Directors of BASF SE, responsible for the Industrial Solutions segment.
“We have outlined a clear growth path for DIC with the target to increase our sales to 1 trillion yen, i.e. approximately €8 billion, by 2025. In this context, BASF’s pigments portfolio is an important strategic addition in meeting our goals more expeditiously. It will allow us to expand our position as one of the leading pigment suppliers globally and offer our customers even more versatile solutions,” added Kaoru Ino, President and Chief Executive Officer of DIC.
“As a long-standing business partner of BASF, we value the expertise and engagement of BASF’s employees in the pigments business. By combining our businesses, DIC/Sun confirms the ambition to be one of the most innovative pigment suppliers globally,” said Myron Petruch, DIC Executive Officer and Chief Executive Officer of DIC’s group company being active in the pigments market, Sun Chemical.
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