The incoming CEO of German chemical giant BASF SE has reportedly confirmed that, unlike path chosen by its U.S. competitors Dow Chemical Co. and DuPont Co., he has absolutely no plans to break up the company.
Martin Brudermueller, in a May 3 report by Reuters, has voiced his support for the company's so-called Verbund, the integrated value chain where a company owns businesses throughout the production process.
“We often hear the Verbund getting criticized for being too rigid. That's not true,” said Brudermueller who is taking the helm at BASF on May 4.
“If you have everything under one roof, you can coordinate things much better, that is the sense in which we will develop it further. You wouldn't normally want to sell attractive businesses that are growing,” he told Reuters and other reporters in remarks released late on May 2.
Dow and DuPont merged to become DowDuPont Inc., but plan to separate into three separate companies.