LUDWIGSHAFEN (dpa-AFX) – The world’s largest chemical group BASF wants to continue listing its majority stake in Wintershall Dea. “We have made a strategic decision and believe that going public is the right way to go,” said CFO Hans-Ulrich Engel in an online press conference on Friday. Of course, it has to fit into the respective market environment. According to a press report, the investment company LetterOne of the Russian billionaire Mikhail Fridman, which holds the remaining share in the company, even wants to prevent the move altogether.
One reason is market sentiment towards assets in Russia, where the company does some of its gas and oil production. This would “very likely lead to a valuation that does not reflect the potential of the company,” recently wrote the “Financial Times”.
“In view of the high strategic importance of the IPO for BASF and our stakeholders, we will use all means at our disposal to protect our rights and interests,” said Engel. This included legal recourse and the right to unilaterally pursue an IPO in 2023. But he hopes that BASF can come to an agreement with the co-owners on this.
Originally, BASF had planned the IPO for the second half of 2020, but has since postponed it several times. Wintershall Dea is also involved in financing the controversial Nord Stream 2 pipeline and has given the project company a loan of 730 million euros. In view of the Ukraine war, the future of the gas pipeline between Russia and Germany is uncertain.
After the federal government suspended the approval process for the operation of the Russian-German natural gas pipeline, the USA introduced sanctions against the operating company and its top managers. According to the Russian gas company GAZPROM, the pipeline was completed in September and is intended to bring gas from Russia to Germany.
What the US sanctions mean for the future of the pipeline will become clear in the coming weeks and months, Engel said. No operational activities of Wintershall Dea are currently affected by sanctions. “We also don’t see Wintershall Dea being subject to sanctions.” The only link to a sanction is the loan. He expects this to be paid back.
Wintershall Dea emerged in 2019 from the merger of Wintershall Holding GmbH and Dea AG. The oil and gas group based in Kassel and Hamburg employs almost 2,500 people worldwide. BASF holds a good 70 percent in Wintershall Dea. The rest belongs to LetterOne, an investment company in which the Russian oligarch Mikhail Fridman has pooled his Dea shares./mne/nas/jha/
Leverage must be between 2 and 20
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