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"There are always these expectations there should be something
big, important and impressive (in terms of deals)," Kurt Bock
said at a press conference on Thursday after the release of
full-year earnings.
When asked whether the recent decline in share prices has
affected his view of large takeover opportunities he said: "We
take a very sober view."
In contrast to his predecessor Juergen Hambrecht, now the
supervisory board chairman, Bock has eschewed major takeover
deals at the group's core chemicals and plastics businesses
during his almost 5-year tenure, which has seen cutbacks and
divestments.
"We are looking at individual targets. Do they really create
value for our shareholders at the end of the day? Not everything
that is fancy and big necessarily creates value," Bock added.
The industry has seen major consolidation moves in the Chemical
industry recently with merger plans unveiled by Dow Chemical <DOW.N>
and DuPont <DD.N> followed by an agreed takeover bid for
pesticides maker Syngenta <SYNN.VX> by ChemChina.
Bock added that he would continue his policy of looking into
hiving off units that have come under too much pressure from
rivals.
"This pruning of our portfolio ... will continue in 2016 and
2017," he said.
(Reporting by Ludwig Burger; Editing by Arno Schuetze)
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