BASF SE / DE000BASF111

BASF SE: Harbour Energy plc and the shareholders of Wintershall Dea sign business combination agreement

EQS-Ad-hoc: BASF SE / Key word(s): Mergers & Acquisitions/Agreement


21-Dec-2023 / 15:05 CET/CEST
Disclosure of an inside information acc. to Article 17 MAR of the Regulation (EU) No 596/2014, transmitted by EQS News - a service of EQS Group AG.
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

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Harbour Energy plc and the shareholders of Wintershall Dea sign business combination agreement E&P business of Wintershall Dea, excluding Russia-related activities, to be transferred to Harbour Energy plc BASF and LetterOne to receive cash consideration and share in the combined company Subject to regulatory approvals, closing is targeted for Q4 2024 BASF, LetterOne and Harbour Energy plc (Harbour) today (December 21, 2023) signed a business combination agreement to transfer Wintershall Dea’s E&P business consisting of its producing and development assets as well as exploration rights in Norway, Argentina, Germany, Mexico, Algeria, Libya (excluding Wintershall AG), Egypt and Denmark (excluding Ravn) as well as Wintershall Dea’s carbon capture and storage (CCS) licenses to Harbour. In exchange, at closing, the shareholders of Wintershall Dea – BASF (72.7%) and LetterOne (27.3%) – will receive total cash consideration of $2.15 billion (BASF share: $1.56 billion) and new shares issued by Harbour equating to a total shareholding in the enlarged Harbour of 54.5% (BASF share: 39.6%). The agreed enterprise value for the Wintershall Dea assets amounts to $11.2 billion. This amount includes the outstanding bonds of Wintershall Dea with a nominal value of around $4.9 billion that will be transferred to Harbour at closing. With this transaction, BASF takes a major step towards achieving its announced strategic goal to exit the oil and gas business. After closing, the transaction creates optionality for monetization of BASF’s stake in the combined company, as Harbour is listed on the London Stock Exchange. Wintershall Dea’s headquarters and the related staff are not part of the transaction. This will require further restructuring and ultimately the closure of the headquarters’ units in Kassel and Hamburg that currently have around 850 employees. Harbour intends to take on some employees from the current headquarters into the combined company. Further specifics will be agreed after a more detailed review between signing and closing. Employee representatives will be involved in the process according to respective legal regulations and established practices. In parallel to the transaction with Harbour, the legal separation of Wintershall Dea’s Russia-related business is progressing as planned. BASF and LetterOne will remain the owners of the company holding the Russia-related business, for which significant federal German investment guarantees are in place. The Russia-related business includes stakes in the joint ventures in Russia, the ownership interest in Wintershall AG in Libya (Wintershall Dea share: 51%), in Wintershall Noordzee BV in the Netherlands (Wintershall Dea share: 50%) as well as the share in Nord Stream AG (Wintershall Dea share: 15.5%). Furthermore, Wintershall Dea is continuing its preparations for a separate sale of its stake in WIGA Transport Beteiligungs-GmbH & Co. KG (WIGA), which is not part of the transaction. WIGA is active in the German gas transport business; it is a joint venture of Wintershall Dea (50.02%) and SEFE Securing Energy for Europe GmbH (49.98%). WIGA’s operationally independent subsidiaries operate high-pressure pipeline networks, including GASCADE’s transport network, as well as OPAL and NEL. Until closing, Wintershall Dea and Harbour will continue to operate as independent companies. There is no assurance that the agreed transaction will be consummated. The transaction is, among other things, subject to approvals of merger control and foreign investment authorities in several countries. Subject to these regulatory approvals, closing is targeted for the fourth quarter of 2024. In the first half of 2023, the combined business had pro-forma revenue of $5.1 billion and EBITDAX of $3.7 billion. Overall, production volumes of Harbour and Wintershall Dea amounted to 513 thousand barrels of oil equivalent per day in the first half of 2023. In 2022, the combined business had pro-forma revenue of $13.5 billion and EBITDAX of $10.3 billion. Overall, production volumes of Harbour and Wintershall Dea amounted to 526 thousand barrels of oil equivalent per day in 2022. Combined 2P reserves stood at 1.5 billion barrels of oil equivalent at the end of 2022.   Contact
Dr. Stefanie Wettberg
Investor Relations
[phone]
[e-mail]
  Jens Fey
Corporate Media Relations
[phone]
[e-mail]

End of Inside Information

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21-Dec-2023 CET/CEST The EQS Distribution Services include Regulatory Announcements, Financial/Corporate News and Press Releases.
Archive at www.eqs-news.com

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Language:	English
Company:	BASF SE
	Carl-Bosch-Straße 38
	67056 Ludwigshafen
	Germany
Phone:	[phone]
Fax:	[phone]
E-mail:	[e-mail]
Internet:	www.basf.com
ISIN:	DE000BASF111, DE000A0JRFB0, Börse Dublin, Frankfurter Wertpapierbörse, DE000A0JRFA2, Börse Dublin, Frankfurter Wertpapierbörse, DE000A0JQF26, Börse Dublin, Frankfurter Wertpapierbörse, DE000A0EUB86, Frankfurter Wertpapierbörse, DE0008846718, Frankfurter Wertpapierbörse, DE000A0XFK16, Börse Luxemburg, Frankfurter Wertpapierbörse, XS0420401779, Börse Luxemburg, XS0412154378, Börse Luxemburg, Frankfurter Börse, DE000A0T4DU7,Börse Luxemburg, Frankfurter Börse, CH0039943292, Swiss Exchange (SWX), CH0039943383, Swiss Exchange (SWX), DE000A0TKBM, Börse Luxemburg, Frankfurter Börse, XS0414672070, Börse Luxemburg, ,
WKN:	BASF11, WKN A0JRFB, Börse Dublin, Frankfurter Wertpapierbörse, , WKN A0JRFA, Börse Dublin, Frankfurter Wertpapierbörse, , WKN A0JQF2, Börse Dublin, Frankfurter Wertpapierbörse, , WKN A0EUB8, Frankfurter Wertpapierbörse, , WKN 884671, Frankfurter Wertpapierbörse, , WKN A0XFK1, Börse Luxemburg, Frankfurter Wertpapierbörse, , WKN A0XFHJ, Börse Luxemburg, , WKN A0T6EG, Börse Luxemburg, Frankfurter Wertpapierbörse, , WKN A0T4DU, Börse Luxemburg, Frankfurter Wertpapierbörse, , WKN 3994329, Swiss Exchange (SWX), , WKN 3994338, Swiss Exchange (SWX), , WKN A0TKBM, Börse Luxemburg, Frankfurter Wertpapierbörse, , WKN A0T65R, Börse Luxemburg,
Indices:	DAX, EURO STOXX 50
Listed:	Regulated Market in Berlin, Dusseldorf, Frankfurt (Prime Standard), Hamburg, Hanover, Munich, Stuttgart; Regulated Unofficial Market in Tradegate Exchange; London, SIX
EQS News ID:	1802419

End of Announcement	EQS News Service

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1802419  21-Dec-2023 CET/CEST