BASF Confirms Exploratory Talks Over Potential Evonik Acquisition

The confirmation matters less as a deal signal than as a marker of consolidation pressure in European chemicals, where scale and specialty portfolios are being rethought against weak demand. It affects BASF, Evonik and RAG-Stiftung as owner, plus the wider German industrial base that depends on both. Because the parties stress the outcome is undetermined, the open question is whether exploratory talks advance at all — and how minority holders and any carve-out of Evonik's businesses would be handled if they do.