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BASF, Shell in venture
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November 3, 1999: 11:01 a.m. ET
Oil, chemical giants to pool polypropylene assets into $6B combine
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LONDON (CNNfn) - Germany's BASF and Royal Dutch Shell, the Anglo-Dutch oil firm, announced plans Wednesday to merge some chemical assets to create the world's largest producer of polypropylene.
The two companies said they were in "advanced" talks to create a 50-50 Dutch-based joint venture with pro forma annual sales of more than $6 billion.
The announcement, ahead of Shell's second-quarter earnings due Thursday, brought little cheer to investors, though both shares recovered modest early losses to trade flat.
BASF has been restructuring its operations since announcing a 50 percent slide in second-quarter profits in August.
Shell, by contrast, has seen its stock climb after months of under-performing archrival BP Amoco (BP-A).
The companies said the planned joint venture could be signed by year-end. It will combine Shell's Montell arm with BASF's Targor unit as well as Elenac, an existing venture of the two. 
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BASF
Royal Dutch/Shell
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