FRANKFURT (dpa-AFX) - BASF shares rose by more than one percent at times on Monday. The Ludwigshafen-based company's shares have thus recovered 22 percent from their monthly low and are even performing slightly better than the DAX. The morning's price gains were driven by a report in the Dutch financial newspaper "Het Financieele Dagblad" that Akzo Nobel was "seriously interested" in the surface solutions business, BASF Coatings. The report cited people familiar with the deal. Shares in the Dutch company fell.
According to expert Wim Hoste from KBC Bank, Akzo had recently given assurances that it would concentrate on its own turnaround and its Asian business. The possibility of a deal with BASF had been played down.
Strategically, Coatings would be a very good fit for Akzo, but the timing would be rather poor, according to Hoste – also due to the high level of debt. /ag/mis
