BASF Completes $62M Verenium Tender Offer

LUDWIGSHAFEN, GermanyBASF has completed the previously announced tender offer to purchase all outstanding shares of common stock of San-Diego-based enzyme manufacturer Verenium Corporation for US$4 per share in cash. Based on all outstanding shares and including all net financial liabilities, the enterprise value would be approximately US$62 million.

We thank all shareholders of Verenium who have been supportive of our offer. The acquisition will strengthen our position in the fast growing enzyme market," said Michael Heinz, member of the Board of Executive Directors of BASF SE and responsible for the Performance Products segment.

A detailed integration plan will be developed in a discovery phase after closing. BASF expects to start with the integration of Verenium in the first quarter of 2014.

In 2012, BASF announced plans to acquire Norway-based Pronova BioPharma ASA for approximately 664 million, a move that will vaulted BASF into a leading position in the omega-3 fatty acid market. The deal was finalized in the first quarter 2013.

In May 2012, BASF announced the acquisition of Equateq Ltd., a global leader in the manufacturing of highly concentrated omega-3 fatty acids, for an undisclosed amount. The transaction strengthened BASFs position as leading supplier of ingredients for the nutrition and health industries.

At the end of 2011 BASF Plant Science announced an agreement with Cargill, an international producer and marketer of food, to co-develop a new dietary source of EPA/DHA omega-3 fatty acid available by the end of the decade.