BASF to reorganize its paper, water, oilfield and mining businesses

Ludwigshafen, Germany – November 10, 2015 – BASF is reorganizing its paper, water, oilfield and mining businesses within the Performance Chemicals division to foster customer and industry focus and increase competitiveness.

In the Water Solutions and Paper Chemicals businesses cost leadership, operational and commercial excellence as well as efficient and reliable supply are key success factors. Thus, BASF is combining these two businesses to form a new global business unit Paper and Water Chemicals. Merging the two businesses will enable efficiency gains and create additional market opportunities.

The Oilfield and Mining Solutions businesses operate in markets that are driven by differentiation to create sustainable industry solutions together with customers. Success factors for suppliers to these industries are technology and innovation leadership as well as engineering and application expertise. Oilfield and Mining Solutions will operate as a global business unit. Dedicated industry teams will increase effectiveness and focus on developing and commercializing innovative and sustainable products to support the predominantly global customers in optimizing their yields.

Both global business units will be headquartered in Ludwigshafen, Germany. The changes will be effective as of January 1, 2016. The company expects overall a reduction of about 120 positions worldwide until the end of 2016 resulting from the alignment and refocussing of business structures.

“The further development of our organization will strengthen customer focus. The stepwise expansion of our polymer production network and investments in bio-acrylamide raw materials as well as the launch of innovative products will accelerate profitable growth,” said Prof. Dr. Christian Fischer, President of the Performance Chemicals division.

More industry and product specific information is available on the respective business webpages: Paper Chemicals, Water Solutions, Oilfield Solutions, Mining Solutions.

About BASF

At BASF, we create chemistry – and have been doing so for 150 years. Our portfolio ranges from chemicals, plastics, performance products and crop protection products to oil and gas. As the world’s leading chemical company, we combine economic success with environmental protection and social responsibility. Through science and innovation, we enable our customers in nearly every industry to meet the current and future needs of society. Our products and solutions contribute to conserving resources, ensuring nutrition and improving quality of life. We have summed up this contribution in our corporate purpose: We create chemistry for a sustainable future. BASF had sales of over €74 billion in 2014 and around 113,000 employees as of the end of the year. BASF shares are traded on the stock exchanges in Frankfurt (BAS), London (BFA) and Zurich (AN). Further information on BASF is available on the Internet at www.basf.com.