BASF has completed the divestiture of the global pigment business!

On June 30, 2021, after meeting the liquidation conditions, BASF completed the divestiture of the global pigment business. The fine chemical products company DIC acquired the business on a cash and debt-free basis at a price of 1.15 billion euros.

BASF and DIC reached an agreement on August 29, 2019 to acquire BASF's global pigment business, which has approximately 2,600 employees.

Dr. Markus Kamieth, member of the Executive Board of BASF Europe and responsible for the industrial solutions business, said:

Our goal is to find a company with pigments as its core strategic business. DIC has an ambitious development plan and announced that it will continue to develop this business in the next few years. We are convinced that the pigment business can fully release its development potential under DIC.

Kaoru Ino, DIC's representative director and president and executive director, said:

DIC has a clear growth target, which is to achieve a sales target of 1,000 billion yen, equivalent to approximately 8 billion euros, in 2025. In this context, BASF's pigment product portfolio is a very important strategic supplement to us, which can help DIC achieve its goals more quickly. This will help us expand our position as one of the world's leading pigment suppliers and provide our customers with more diversified solutions.

DIC is a Japanese company listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange with approximately 20,000 employees worldwide. The Tokyo-based company was founded in 1908 and has operations in more than 60 countries around the world. Its sales in 2020 are approximately 700 billion yen, which is equivalent to approximately 5.8 billion euros. Under the slogan "Chemistry creates color and comfort", DIC is active in three business areas: packaging and graphic arts materials, color and display, and functional products. Among them, the pigment product portfolio belongs to the color and display business field.