A trio of firms have been called in to guide the €7.7bn sale of German chemical company BASF’s coatings unit to funds managed by global investment firm Carlyle.
Freshfields is acting for BASF on the deal, while Milbank and Latham & Watkins are guiding Carlyle, which is acting in partnership with Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) on the deal.
The enterprise value of the transaction amounts to €7.7bn. Subject to customary regulatory approvals, the deal is expected to close in Q2 2026. BASF will receive pre-tax cash proceeds of around €5.8bn at closing and will continue to hold a 40% equity stake in the coatings business post-closing.
Freshfields’ core team consisted of corporate M&A partners Rick van Aerssen, who works out of Frankfurt and Düsseldorf, and Maximilian Lasson in Munich. Van Aerssen is a global managing partner of the firm and has previously advised BASF on matters including the business combination of Wintershall and DEA.
Milbank advised Carlyle comprehensively on the deal, as well as in respect of BASF’s reinvestment and the partnership with QIA. The Milbank team was led by Sebastian Heim and Norbert Rieger (both corporate/M&A, Munich), who, between them, have advised Carlyle on past matters, including its acquisition of Flender Group from Siemens and its investment in Ingentis Group.
Meanwhile, Latham represented Carlyle on carve-out, debt financing and regulatory matters in connection with the transaction, with a team led by private equity M&A partners Shaun Hartley in Chicago and Paul Sheridan in Washington DC.
The deal comes as BASF moves to slim down its portfolio and dispose of non-core businesses after a surge in energy costs following the war in Ukraine and competition from Chinese rivals dented the group’s earnings.
The company completed the sale of its Brazilian decorative paints business, including the Suvinil and Glasu! brands, to Sherwin-Williams for $1.15bn at the start of October, and was counselled on the deal by a Linklaters team led by Americas chairman George Casey.
BASF Coatings is a global player in the development and production of automotive OEM and refinish coatings as well as applied surface treatments for metal, plastic and glass substrates. The business operates in Europe, North America, South America and Asia Pacific, and generated sales of approximately €3.8bn in 2024.
BASF’s legal team on the deal included Michael Winter and Sophie Stüben (both corporate/M&A) as well as Stephan Purps (antitrust).
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