BASF’s Coatings Payday and Buyback Finale Set Stage for CoreShift Cost Surgery
03.06.2026 - 06:04:21 | boerse-global.de
The European Commission has cleared BASF’s sale of its coatings business to US buyout firm Carlyle, unlocking a €5.8bn pre-tax cash inflow that gives the Ludwigshafen-based group fresh firepower just as a €1.5bn share buyback programme hurtles towards its June deadline. The twin liquidity events, however, come against the backdrop of an aggressive internal cost-cutting drive – dubbed CoreShift – that aims to slash fixed costs by up to a fifth within three years and is expected to claim jobs.
Carlyle will pay an enterprise value of €7.7bn for the coatings unit, with BASF retaining a 40% minority stake. The €5.8bn due for the remaining 60% is contingent on one antitrust condition: Carlyle must divest Nouryon’s global polysulfide business, a step Brussels deemed necessary to prevent a monopoly in aerospace sealants. The transaction, first announced in October 2025, is central to BASF’s strategy of concentrating on higher-margin core operations.
On the capital return side, the group continues to repurchase its own shares at a steady clip. Between 25 and 29 May, BASF bought back 950,000 shares, bringing the cumulative tally since the programme’s launch to 27,835,549. The buyback, run through a mandated bank on Xetra and other trading venues, has a maximum volume of €1.5bn and is scheduled to wrap up by the end of June. Shares purchased are cancelled, reducing the share count and providing a mechanical lift to earnings per share.
The real operational challenge, however, lies in the CoreShift programme. BASF aims to cut cash fixed costs in its core businesses by up to 20% by 2029. A newly created “Core Transformation Office” under Julia Raquet will coordinate projects across divisions, service units and the corporate centre. CEO Markus Kamieth has described it as one of the group’s largest optimisation programmes, adding that the future core business will operate with fewer personnel. Concrete job figures have not yet been announced, and talks with employee representatives are pending.
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The pressure is most acute at BASF’s main site in Ludwigshafen, which posted its fourth consecutive annual loss last year. Since the start of 2024, around 2,800 positions have been cut there – a sign of how deeply the adjustment pain runs in Germany’s chemicals sector.
The broader industry offers little relief. The VCI chemicals association described the start of 2026 for the chemical-pharmaceutical industry as weak, citing red tape, high energy costs and global turbulence. Uncertainty from the Middle East conflict is adding to energy and raw-material market volatility. The VCI currently sees no reliable industry forecast for 2026, making BASF’s own guidance more challenging. The group still expects EBITDA before special items of between €6.2bn and €7.0bn. First-quarter EBITDA came in at €2.4bn, down from €2.5bn a year earlier, while net profit per share rose to €1.06 from €0.91. Volume growth, supported by China, was solid, but currency effects and slightly lower prices weighed on revenue.
On the day of the EU clearance, BASF shares edged up 0.45% to €51.07. By early June, the stock had dipped to €50.84, reflecting a weekly decline of 0.37% and a monthly drop of 3.51%. Technically, the picture is mixed: the relative strength index stands at 60.5, and the stock trades about 2% below its 50-day moving average of €52.20, as well as roughly 7% below the 52-week high of €54.70. Over a longer horizon the performance is stronger – a 13.63% gain since the start of the year and a 20.70% advance over twelve months. Deutsche Bank Research reiterated its buy recommendation with a €60 price target, implying roughly 17% upside.
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The €5.8bn coatings windfall will give BASF ample financial flexibility to fund the CoreShift overhaul while returning capital to shareholders. The group has also highlighted operational progress in niche areas: electrical-specialist Weidmüller recently selected BASF plastics for new printed-circuit-board connectors, underscoring the strategy of combining portfolio pruning with technological leadership.
The next major milestone is the second-quarter report in July. By then the buyback will have ended, the coatings sale will be in its final stages, and investors will get a first clear look at whether CoreShift’s cost cuts are translating into better margins. For BASF, the summer of 2026 is shaping up as a period where capital discipline and operational retooling must finally converge.
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