According to sources, Abu Dhabi and the oil and gas group OMV from Austria are considering merging the two companies Borouge and Borealis.
A merger could create a chemicals and plastics group with a market value of more than $30 billion, Bloomberg news agency reported on Tuesday, citing people familiar with the matter. The potential valuation and the ownership structure are still the subject of discussions that could lead to formal merger negotiations in the coming weeks. In the past few months there have always been talks that have been interrupted in the meantime. Even now there could be delays or cancellations.
Vienna-based Borealis is 75 percent owned by OMV, the rest is owned by the state-owned Abu Dhabi National Oil Co (Adnoc). Abu Dhabi-based Borouge, which is also listed, is itself a joint venture between Adnoc and Borealis and has a market value of $22 billion. At Borealis, the two parties are discussing a possible $10 billion valuation.
The subject of the talks is currently whether Abu Dhabi and OMV should each have an equal share in the merged company, the people said. Both companies could also hold shares of less than 50 percent and list the rest on the stock exchange. Adnoc could also end up with a slightly higher stake than OMV. OMV also prefers to be based in Europe, where most of its business is based, even if the new company were listed in Abu Dhabi. Adnoc and OMV did not want to comment on the information. The OMV share jumped seven percent in the afternoon.
According to circles, Adnoc made a preliminary offer for the chemical company Covestro last month, but was turned down because the Covestro management apparently found the offer too low. According to the circles, Covestro is said to have signaled a willingness to talk in the event of a better offer.
After a brief suspension of trading, Covestro fell by more than eight percent. According to experts, the dwindling takeover fantasy weighs heavily on the Dax value. Most recently, the title lost more than four percent at the end of the index.
Possible merger plans by Adnoc and OMV hardly burden Covestro
The possible merger of the activities of the oil companies Adnoc and OMV only put a small damper on the takeover fantasies for Covestro on Tuesday. After the initial price slide of more than eight percent, the Covestro shares are temporarily still listed on XETRA 1.44 percent to 47.26 euros, while the shares of OMV in Vienna increase by 7.71 percent to 42.91 euros.
Two weeks ago, circles reported that the state oil company from Abu Dhabi Adnoc was interested in Covestro and electrified investors. As a result, the Covestro title went up by almost a quarter. The Leverkusen company is said to have rejected a purchase offer worth almost eleven billion euros two days later as too low, as is also said, citing insiders. With a slight delay, the Covestro titles then went into reverse gear – even before the alleged plans of Adnoc and its Austrian competitor became known on Tuesday.
/nas/he
ABU DHABI/VIENNA/FRANKFURT (dpa-AFX)
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