- The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, ADNOC, has shown willingness to increase its informal offer to buy the German company Covestro to about 11.6 billion euros ($12.7 billion), on the condition that the German chemicals group agree to enter formal talks, people familiar with the matter said. According to recent news, the state-backed UAE energy giant has verbally indicated to Covestro that it could send a new written proposal of 60 euros per share, if negotiations begin. The offer price at this level represents a premium of about 29% to Covestro's closing price on Friday.
- Covestro is studying the options and may respond as soon as this week. The proposed offer from ADNOC represents an increase over the previous informal offers of 55 euros and 57 euros per share, the most recent of which was last July. Covestro views the offer as too low, according to sources, who said the companies and their advisors continued to discuss the merits of the deal.
Why it matters
In addition to the price adjustment, ADNOC is addressing Covestro's other concerns about the deal, including how the German company's management could help develop specialty chemical operations. Negotiations are ongoing; ADNOC has not made any final decision on whether to increase the offer for Covestro.
