07 Sep 2016 --- BASF is sizing up acquisition targets which may arise from the wave of big ticket mergers taking place in agrochemical industry, according to the president of its crop protection unit, who has underscored its commitment to R&D and expectations for 2016.

Markus Heldt, president of BASF's crop protection unit, said: "The agrochemical market is evolving and we are actively pursuing opportunities arising from ongoing merger efforts to increase our footprint and value offer."

According to the Wall Street Journal, Heldt later told reporters: "We are looking at antitrust issues to see if we can help."

The wave of mergers and acquisitions in the sector – Bayer's bid for Monsanto; Dow Chemical's merger with DuPont and ChemChina's bid for Syngenta – could prompt regulatory concerns and lead to some of these businesses being forced to sell off parts of their portfolio to get the deals approved.

The German chemicals group is exploring whether should this happen it can acquire these assets which regulators demand be sold off.

It has previously been reported that BASF was in talks with Monsanto over a possible merger of their two agrochemicals divisions.

The talks with BASF were thought to be one of a number of alternatives Monsanto was exploring as an alternative to being acquired by Bayer.

Separately, Held underscored BASF's commitment to investing in products and research and development to meet the demand of a growing population.

He said: "Farmers task to feed a growing, wealthier and more demanding population will not get easier – the need for new technologies, like ours, will continue to be high.”

“To serve farmers best and grow in this market, BASF will continue to heavily invest in R&D, strengthen its pipeline of innovations and engage in partnerships to speed up the development of new technologies."

“We will increase our global footprint while securing our business profitability and long-term success. We believe that customer focus and agility, not size alone, are key factors for future business growth, as farmers’ demands are rapidly changing."

According to BASF, peak sales from its crop protection products launched between 2015 and 2025 will total €3 billion ($3.37bn).

It highlighted the performance of key products such as fungicide Revysol, which it says will play a "vital role" in disease and resistance management from 2018 onwards.

It also said its digital tool Maglis, launched this year, which helps farmers make better decsi9s to grow crops marked BASF's most "significant accomplishment in the area of digital farming".

Looking ahead, BASF said it "expects the agricultural market to remain volatile and the business environment to be challenging" and said it hoped to match profits reached in 2015.

by John Reynolds
Source: Food Ingredients First