Berlin, Oct 25, IRNA -- German chemical titan BASF and oil giant Royal
Dutch Shell are to decide by the end of December on Iran's National
Petrochemical Company (NPC) bid to buy plastics company Basell, the
German edition of Financial Times (FTD) reported Monday.
Iran's NPC, two private equity consortia and a consortium headed by
Bain Capitals were in the bidding to purchase Basell for three to
four billion dollars.
According to the head of Basell, Volker Trautz, there are plans to
narrow down the list of bidders to two or three by around Christmas or
at the beginning of next year.
He pointed to "simultaneous negotiations with two or three bidders
at the end".
Trautz would also not rule out "exclusive talks" with one bidder if
the offer was significantly higher than the others.
The first round of bidding for Basell concluded two weeks ago and
all presentations on Basell will be given two-weeks time as of
November 1.
Basell has annual sales of six billion euros and a workforce of
some 6,500.
It remains the world's leading maker of polyolefins which are used
in a variety of sectors, such as food, agriculture and auto
industries.
... Payvand News - 10/25/04 ... --
