BASF Kicks Off €6 Billion Sale of Coatings Business
BASF SE has kicked off a sale of its coatings business, in a process that could value the unit at about €6 billion ($6.8 billion) and attract bids from large buyout firms, according to people familiar with the matter.
The German chemical company has sent out information on the business to potential suitors in recent weeks, the people said, asking not to be identified as the matter is private. Carlyle Group Inc. is considering bidding for the coatings business together with paint-maker Sherwin-Williams Co., the people said. It's also attracting early interest from CVC Capital Partners Plc and Lone Star Funds, the people said.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New York Times
31 minutes ago
- New York Times
Chelsea review of 2024-25: Mission accomplished for Enzo Maresca – but can he build on it?
There was no grand unveiling at Stamford Bridge to mark the start of Enzo Maresca's tenure as Chelsea head coach, but his debut season ended with the club shining once more on the European stage. Maresca's first press conference was scheduled to take place in a room packed full of reporters the week before the squad left for their pre-season tour of the USA. It was postponed due to a racism furore surrounding Enzo Fernandez, and so Maresca's media debut came not in west London, but instead with much less fanfare and far fewer journalists on the west coast of America. Advertisement Just one sign of the many twists and turns Chelsea have been through is that Fernandez was one of the heroes in Chelsea's last fixture, scoring a crucial equaliser in the 4-1 victory over Real Betis in the UEFA Conference League Final. As always there is a lot to reflect on as The Athletic looks back on Chelsea's 2024-25… Third time lucky. Three years after taking over, the Todd Boehly-Clearlake consortium have got something truly tangible to show for their efforts. Chelsea have qualified for the Champions League for the first time under their ownership and also claimed a first trophy by winning the UEFA Conference League. This should give Chelsea the confidence to kick on from here. To be fair, Tottenham away is usually regarded by Chelsea fans as their game of the season anyway, simply because they love nothing more than beating their fierce rivals on an annual basis. December's 4-3 win at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium was extra special, though, because Maresca's side showed some fight in adversity, recovering from 2-0 down to claim all three points. Palmer scoring a Panenka penalty was the epitome of cool and helped Chelsea's following rub more salt in their counterparts' wounds. Palmer started the season looking like he would dominate the nominations. He provided some worthy contenders, but I have gone for Pedro Neto's late winner versus Fulham. First, because it was a beautiful goal; a lovely team move to begin with, involving Moises Caicedo, Fernandez and Palmer before Neto produced a finish of great power and technique. Spinning on to Fernandez's pass with his back to goal, the Portugal international fired a tremendous shot past Bernd Leno. Another factor elevating it above others was its importance. It ended Chelsea's four-month run without an away league win and injected some much-needed belief back into the dressing room for the run-in. Palmer's four goals in 20 minutes against Brighton in September. It was the first time in Premier League history a player had scored four times in the first half of a match, although the England international was 'angry' afterwards because he felt he should have had 'five or six'. Standards eh? Maresca saying that Chelsea being beaten by Brighton in the FA Cup Fourth Round may be a positive because it meant they could concentrate on the Premier League and UEFA Conference League. In PR terms, as well as his relationship with the fans, it was a huge own goal even though Chelsea went on to secure their targets of Champions League qualification and Conference League success. Advertisement 'Today that was for sure not progress; if anything, it was a step back. Maybe we disrespected the competition today, but this is football; if you don't prepare right, you will pay.' This is just some of what Reece James had to say after Chelsea's embarrassing 2-1 home defeat to Legia Warsaw in April. What James uttered to TNT Sport following the final whistle of the UEFA Conference League quarter-final second leg stood out for a few reasons, but particularly because this kind of rhetoric is not something you come to expect from the defender in front of a camera. It was the kind of damning appraisal former captain John Terry would provide after a poor display and it was good to see James, who has kept the armband under Maresca, follow suit. The tough words needed to be said, to give everyone the reality check they needed to spark an improvement. It is perhaps no coincidence that Chelsea went on to finish the campaign so strongly. Chelsea announcing a front of shirt sponsor with seven games remaining. Better late than never I suppose… Ahead of Chelsea's game at Wolves in August, Noni Madueke took to Instagram to declare of Wolverhampton: 'Everything about this place is 's**t'. Inevitably the locals were none too impressed and booed him ferociously. But to further secure Madueke's place as public enemy No 1 in the city, he scored his first and only hat-trick at senior level in a 6-2 victory. After expressing regret over the social media post, Madueke rather unconvincingly added, 'I'm sure Wolverhampton is a nice town'. Easier to say when walking off with the match ball. Kaoru Mitoma led Chelsea's defence a merry dance in Brighton's 3-0 Premier League victory in February. He also scored one of the finest goals in 2024-25, controlling a long kick from Bart Verbruggen superbly before beating Filip Jorgensen. Sky Sports commentator Jamie Carragher can be guilty of hyperbole but few argued with his assessment that Mitoma's first touch was 'Messi-like'. Advertisement I am going with an eight. Yes, Chelsea were favourites for the Conference League all along and have a squad that should be competing for a top-five spot. But Maresca still deserves credit for getting this young Chelsea squad over the line under intense pressure. Winning eight of the last nine matches to achieve the feat was particularly impressive. How many of the players that Chelsea don't want are actually sold. The 'bomb squad' was a negative distraction at the start of this season but the number involved in it could be even greater this time around. We are talking well into double figures. Chelsea are confident there will be a lot of outgoings. However, they failed to offload Raheem Sterling or Ben Chilwell on a permanent basis this season (both left on loan) and now they have other highly-paid players in Joao Felix and Christopher Nkunku added to the mix. Estevao Willian, who completes his move from Palmeiras for an initial €34million ($38.6m; £29m) this summer, is a bargain. Top photo: James Gill – Danehouse/Getty Images
Associated Press
37 minutes ago
- Associated Press
Putin's tough stance on a Ukraine peace plan shows his resolve on Russia's demands
By making harsh, uncompromising demands in peace talks with Ukraine while continuing to pummel it with waves of missiles and drones, Russian President Vladimir Putin is sending a clear message: He will only accept a settlement on his terms and will keep fighting until they're met. At the same time, he has sought to avoid angering U.S. President Donald Trump by praising his diplomacy and declaring Moscow's openness to peace talks — even as he set maximalist conditions that are rejected by Kyiv and the West. Trump, who once promised to end the 3-year-old war in 24 hours, has upended the U.S. policy of isolating Russia by holding calls with Putin and denigrating Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. At the same time, however, Trump warned Putin against 'tapping me along' and threatened Moscow with sanctions if it fails to back his peace proposals. Trump says Putin is 'playing with fire' In recent days, Trump signaled he was losing patience with Putin, declaring the Russian leader had gone 'crazy' by stepping up aerial attacks on Ukraine. He also said: 'What Vladimir Putin doesn't realize is that if it weren't for me, lots of really bad things would have already happened to Russia, and I mean REALLY BAD. He's playing with fire!' Dmitry Medvedev, a former Russian president who serves as deputy head of Putin's Security Council, fired back: 'I only know of one REALLY BAD thing — WWIII. I hope Trump understands this!' Fyodor Lukyanov, a Moscow-based analyst familiar with Kremlin thinking, said Putin is engaged in a 'psychological game' with Trump, with both men thinking they understand each other well. 'Putin's tactics is apparently based on an assumption that the issue has a lesser priority for his interlocutor, who wants to get rid of it one way or another, while for the Russian side, nothing compares to it in importance,' Lukyanov wrote a commentary. 'In this logic, the one who sees it as something of lesser importance will eventually make concessions.' While Ukraine's European allies urge Trump to ramp up sanctions against Moscow to force it to accept a ceasefire, some fear that Trump may end up distancing the U.S. from the conflict. If the U.S. halts or reduces military aid to Kyiv, it would badly erode Ukraine's fighting capability. Growing Russian pressure Kyiv already is experiencing a weapons shortage, particularly air defense systems, leaving it increasingly vulnerable to Russian missile and drone attacks. Across the over 1,000-kilometer (over 600-mile) front line, the exhausted and outgunned Ukrainian troops are facing increasing Russian pressure. This month, Russian forces accelerated their slow push across the Donetsk region, the focus of Moscow's offensive, grinding through Ukrainian defenses at the quickest pace since last fall. Russia also expanded its attacks in the northeastern Sumy and Kharkiv regions following Putin's promise to create a buffer zone along the border. Many observers expect Russia to expand its offensive over the summer to try to capture more land and set even tougher conditions for peace. 'Moscow thinks its leverage over Ukraine will build over time, and since Trump has strongly implied that he will withdraw from negotiations the Russian military is set to intensify its operations,' said Jack Watling of the Royal United Services Institute in London. He predicted Russia would intensify efforts to take all of the Donetsk region while also pressing a bombing campaign. 'The Kremlin will want to suggest a deteriorating situation as negotiations continue and to signal to Europe that the rear is not safe, to discourage European militaries from putting forces in country,' Watling said in an analysis. Sergei Markov, a pro-Kremlin, Moscow-based analyst, said the long-expected offensive hasn't yet begun in earnest as Russia is cautious not to anger Trump. 'If Kyiv derails peace talks, the Russian army will start a big offensive,' he said. Putin's conditions for peace Putin has demanded that Ukraine withdraw its forces from Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson — the four regions that Russia illegally annexed in September 2022 but never fully controlled. That demand had been rejected by Kyiv and its allies, but the Russian delegation reportedly repeated it during talks with Ukraine in Istanbul on May 16. Those talks, the first since botched negotiations in the opening weeks of the war, came after Putin effectively rejected a 30-day truce proposed by Trump that was accepted by Kyiv. Russia had linked such a ceasefire to a halt in Ukraine's mobilization effort and a freeze on Western arms supplies. Putin proposed talks to discuss conditions for a possible truce. Trump quickly prodded Kyiv to accept the offer, but the negotiations yielded no immediate progress except an agreement to exchange 1,000 prisoners each. Russia offered to hold another round of talks Monday in Istanbul, where it said it will present a memorandum setting conditions for ending hostilities. It refused to share the document before the negotiations. Some observers see the talks as an attempt by Putin to assuage Trump's growing impatience. 'Putin has devised a way to offer Trump an interim, tangible outcome from Washington's peace efforts without making any real concessions,' said Tatiana Stanovaya of the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center. Facing Western accusations of stalling, the Kremlin responded that the conflict can't be resolved quickly and emphasized the need to address its 'root causes.' When Putin invaded Ukraine, he said the move was needed to prevent Ukraine from joining NATO and protect Russian speakers in the country -– arguments strongly rejected by Kyiv and its Western allies as a cover for an unprovoked act of aggression. Along with those demands, Putin also wants limits on Ukraine's sovereignty, including the size of Ukraine's military, and for Kyiv to end what Moscow sees as glorification of Ukraine's World War II-era nationalist leaders, some of whom sided with the invading forces of Nazi Germany over the Soviet leadership in the Kremlin. A Kremlin negotiator who's been there before Seeking to underline that Moscow will press home its initial demands, Putin appointed his aide Vladimir Medinsky to lead the Russian delegation in Istanbul. He also led the Russian side in the 2022 talks. Kyiv reportedly has asked the U.S. to encourage Putin to replace him. The soft-spoken, 54-year-old career bureaucrat, who was born in Ukraine, ascended through the Kremlin ranks after writing a series of books exposing purported Western plots against Russia. In an interview with Russian state television after the May 16 talks, Medinsky pointed to Russia's 18th century war with Sweden that lasted 21 years, a signal that Moscow is prepared to fight for a long time until its demands are met. 'History repeats itself in a remarkable way,' he said.
New York Times
an hour ago
- New York Times
The U.S. Right Loathes the E.U. How Are They Going to Negotiate Trade?
The United States' populist right has its calling cards. 'Make America Great Again' hats. A distaste for immigration. A love of tax cuts. But a more subtle unifying thread has been creeping into Republican discourse for years — one that has exploded onto the global stage, with the potential to reshape the contours of alliances and redirect the flows of global trade. MAGA deeply dislikes the European Union. And the pronounced skepticism could have real consequences as Mr. Trump wages a trade war on the bloc — especially in the coming weeks, after American and European officials vowed to 'fast-track' their negotiations toward closing a deal. It is not just President Trump, who has said that the European Union was formed to take advantage of America. Or only Vice President JD Vance, who warned that Europe was retreating from its 'fundamental values' during a speech in Munich this year. Or Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who in a leaked Signal chat called America's continental allies 'pathetic.' The ethos is also a mainstay of right-leaning television in the United States. 'Europeans for the most part do not share our values,' Laura Ingraham, the conservative TV host, said this year, citing European climate policies that might drive society into 'economic ruin,' differences in views of free speech, and the right to bear arms — sacrosanct in America, but something not fundamental and subject to restrictions in Europe. It crops up in conservative commentary. European negotiators 'move slower than a French escargot,' a recent Fox News opinion article about trade negotiations quipped, before predicting that Europeans will spend trade talks waltzing 'us through their organic, manicured gardens again with no result.' Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
