据彭博社2023年8月14日报道，知情人士说，阿布扎比国家石油公司(Adnoc)表示，该公司准备将对德国化学工业公司科思创公司(Covestro AG)的非正式报价提高到大约116亿欧元(合127亿美元)，条件是科思创公司同意进入正式谈判。

知情人士说，这家有阿联酋政府背景的能源巨头已向科思创公司口头表示，如果这样的报价涨幅能够促使谈判启动，Adnoc可能会重新提出每股60欧元报价的书面提议。这一报价将比科思创公司上周五的收盘价溢价大约29%。

知情人士说，科思创公司管理层和监事会正在考虑他们的选择，最快可能在本周做出回应。科思创公司股价周一涨幅高达8.8%。到法兰克福时间8月14日下午2点23分，该股上涨5%，使科思创公司市值达到大约94亿欧元。

Adnoc的任何此类举动都将提高此前每股55欧元和57欧元的非正式报价。上述知情人士称，科思创公司仍认为，7月份Adnoc提交的最新报价过低。他们表示，两家公司及其顾问仍在继续讨论这笔交易的好处。

彭博新闻社此前曾报道称，除了价格问题，Adnoc一直在努力解决科思创公司对交易的其他担忧，包括它将如何帮助科思创公司的管理层发展特种化学品业务。

上述知情人士称，相关讨论仍在进行中，Adnoc尚未就是否提高对科思创公司的报价或提高多少做出最终决定。由于涉及机密信息，上述知情人士要求不具名采访。Adnoc和科思创公司的代表拒绝置评。

Adnoc首席执行官Sultan Al Jaber正在寻找交易，以更好地与沙特阿拉伯国家石油公司（沙特阿美）旗下的化工部门竞争，并发展公司自己的下游和可再生能源业务。Adnoc正在与奥地利的油气集团（OMV AG）就阿联酋博禄公司（Borouge Plc）和奥地利北欧化工公司（Borealis AG）两家公司合并的可能性进行谈判，以形成一家价值超过300亿美元的化工和塑料巨头。 

这些潜在的交易与阿联酋吸引投资和技术，以及建立新产业和制造能力的更广泛计划相吻合。另外，Adnoc已开始向德国输送液化天然气，帮助该国摆脱对管道天然气供应的依赖。

科思创公司曾在8月初表示，由于全球需求疲软，预计其全年利润将在11亿欧元至16亿欧元指导区间的下半部分。其他德国化工企业巴斯夫、赢创工业集团和朗盛集团都警告称，今年剩余时间的前景将恶化，原因是全球化工工业产出低迷和消费品需求放缓。

李峻 译自 油价网

原文如下：

Adnoc Weighs Boosting Covestro Bid Again to $12.7B

Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. indicated it’s prepared to boost its informal offer for Covestro AG to about 11.6 billion ($12.7 billion) on the condition the German chemicals group agrees to enter formal talks, people with knowledge of the matter said.

The state-backed energy giant has verbally signaled to Covestro that it could come back with a new, written proposal of 60 per share, should such a bump get negotiations started, the people said. An offer at that level would represent a premium of about 29% to Covestro’s closing share price on Friday.

Covestro’s management and supervisory board are considering their options and may respond as soon as this week, the people said. Shares in Covestro rose as much as 8.8% on Monday. The stock was up 5% at 2:23 p.m. in Frankfurt, giving the company a market value of about 9.4 billion.

Any such move by Adnoc would improve previous informal bids of 55 and 57 per share. The most recent of these, submitted in July, is still seen as too low by Covestro, according to the people. Both companies and their advisers have continued to discuss the merits of a transaction, they said. 

As well as price, Adnoc has been trying to address other Covestro concerns about a transaction, including how it would help the German company’s management develop the specialty chemical operations, Bloomberg News reported previously.

Deliberations are ongoing and Adnoc has made no final decision about if, or by how much, to increase an offer for Covestro, the people said, asking not to be identified discussing confidential information. Representatives for Adnoc and Covestro declined to comment.

Adnoc’s Chief Executive Officer Sultan Al Jaber is hunting for deals to better compete with Saudi Aramco’s Sabic chemical unit, and to develop the company’s own downstream and renewable energy operations. Adnoc is in separate talks with Austria’s OMV AG about a potential merger of two companies they back, Borouge Plc and Borealis AG, to form a chemicals and plastics giant worth more than $30 billion.

The potential transactions dovetail with a wider plan by the United Arab Emirates to attract investment and technology, as well as build new industries and manufacturing capabilities. Separately, Adnoc has started delivering liquefied natural gas to Germany, stepping in to help the country wean itself off of Russian supplies. 

Covestro said earlier in August that it expected full year-profit to come in at the lower half of a guided range of 1.1 billion and 1.6 billion, citing waning global demand. Fellow German chemicals firms BASF SE, Evonik Industries AG and Lanxess AG have all warned of a worsening outlook for the rest of the year, blaming subdued global industrial output and slow demand for consumer products.