Good things come to those who wait. BASF (Ludwigshafen / Germany; www.basf.com) said it completed the sale of its global pigments business to Japanese fine chemicals manufacturer DIC (Tokyo; www.dic-global.com) on 30 June 2021 after approval conditions were met. The purchase price, excluding cash and financial debts, was EUR 1.15 bn, the chemical giant reported.

BASF and DIC had already agreed on the divestment of the pigments business and its some 2,600 employees in August 2019 (see Plasteurope.com of 30.08.2019). Antitrust issues delayed the deal (see Plasteurope.com of 06.07.2020), contributing to postponement of the original target for completion of the sale by the end of 2020.

DIC, listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, employs around 20,000 worldwide and generated sales of around JPY 700 bn (around EUR 5.8 bn) in 2020.