Evonik Pushes Back on BASF Approach as Cash Flow and Divestment Clock Take Center Stage
Published on 11/05/2026 at 06:50 | Editorial boerse-global.de
Evonik has paired a robust defence of its standalone strategy with fresh evidence of its cash-generating muscle, telling investors that the timing of BASF's takeover ambitions is "really strange" while pointing to a solid free cash flow as the case for going it alone.
Finance chief Michael Rauch sharpened that message on Tuesday, describing the moment BASF chose to move as "wirklich merkwürdig." His comments build on the board's decision on 30 October to reject negotiations over BASF's interest in a voluntary public takeover offer. Evonik did, however, agree to a purely informational, confidential exchange — a distinction worth keeping in mind, since a willingness to talk is not the same as consent to takeover talks.
Cash flow as a separate yardstick
The numbers published the same day give the standalone argument some operational ballast. Evonik reported third-quarter 2026 free cash flow of EUR 369 million, taking the nine-month tally to EUR 601 million. That figure sits alongside the adjusted earnings line but answers a different question: a higher adjusted result does not automatically translate into a matching inflow of funds, which is why the cash flow trend deserves to be judged on its own terms.
Management continues to guide for roughly EUR 850 million of free cash flow for 2026, a target left untouched. It is worth separating what has already been achieved from what is still a forecast — the reported cash flows are actuals, while the full-year figure remains a projection, and reaffirming an expectation is not the same as delivering it.
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Two divestments, two different stages
The portfolio overhaul tells a similar story of milestones still ahead. Evonik said on Tuesday that the sale process for Oxeno is proceeding to plan, with a buyer expected to be announced in the coming months. That is a concrete expectation for the next step rather than a completed transaction, so the stage reached matters as much as the intent to sell.
Syneqt, which runs the chemical parks in Marl and Wesseling, is a step further back: preparations for its sale are under way. The contrast is plain — Evonik can already point to a prospective buyer for Oxeno, while Syneqt remains in the preparatory phase.
Independence reaches down to the subsidiary
The strategic debate extends beyond the parent company. Reuters reported on 27 October that Thomas Basten, spokesperson for Syneqt's management board, called independence for the divestment candidate strategically sensible. BASF had earlier said it could operate the Marl and Wesseling sites itself, leaving the future shape of the infrastructure business open alongside the takeover question.
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Tuesday's virtual roadshow in Edinburgh with Berenberg offers a natural occasion to weigh all of this. For investors, two items stand out as most tangible: the unchanged cash flow guidance and the uneven progress of the planned sales. A buyer for Oxeno and advances at Syneqt would be milestones of a different kind from hitting the cash flow target, and they deserve to be assessed separately.
Taken together, they widen the lens beyond a single quarter's earnings. What counts for Evonik is not only the profit line but the funds actually generated — and the steps genuinely completed in the restructuring. The cash flow makes the case for the company's own path; the divergent views on the infrastructure assets show that the strategic argument is far from settled by the latest figures.
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