… And Will Cut Jobs In Cognis Integration

BASF will spend about $410 million to integrate Cognis, which it acquired in December 2010 for roughly $4 billion. The firm says the program will yield annual savings of some $390 million, in part by cutting a net of 450 positions worldwide by the end of 2012. BASF says it will maintain 26 of Cognis’ 28 production sites, selling one in Hythe, England, and disposing of another in Tromsø, Norway. Of Cognis’ 37 nonmanufacturing sites, only nine will remain. BASF will close Cognis’ former North American headquarters in Cincinnati, along with office and lab sites in Ambler, Pa.; LaGrange, Ill.; and Mississauga, Ontario. Many positions will relocate to other BASF sites in North America, the company says.