據彭博新聞社2023年7月20日報道，知情人士說，尋求通過一系列雄心勃勃的交易擴大化工業務的阿聯酋能源巨頭阿布扎比國家石油公司(Adnoc)已將其對德國化學工業公司科思創公司(Covestro AG)的收購報價提高至大約110億歐元(124億美元)。

知情人士表示，Adnoc將報價提高至每股約57歐元，希望能說服這家德國化學工業公司加入談判。這比它第一次非正式出價每股55歐元要高2歐元。這家有政府背景的公司對科思創公司的戰略和管理表示了信心。由于信息保密，這些知情人士要求匿名采訪。

科思創公司股價7月19日在法蘭克福下跌2.9%，市值為94億歐元。在彭博新聞報道Adnoc提高報價后，科思創公司股價在周二尾盤交易中飆升，報收于去年2月以來的最高水平。

知情人士當時表示，6月份，總部位于勒沃庫森的科思創公司拒絕了Adnoc早些時候的報價，理由是報價過低。科思創公司還對Adnoc的專業業務計劃提出了質疑。

Adnoc首席執行官一直在忙于尋求有利交易，以更好地與沙特阿美及沙比克競爭。這家阿布扎比公司正在與奧地利的OMV AG進行單獨談判，討論將他們支持的兩家公司博祿公司和北歐化工公司合并，組建一家價值超過300億美元的化工和塑料巨頭。

這些擬議中的交易與阿聯酋吸引投資和技術以及建立新產業和制造能力的更廣泛計劃相吻合。Adnoc一直在擴建阿布扎比的煉油和化工中心，為其石油和天然氣生產尋找更多的銷售渠道，并生產用于消費品的塑料。

上述知情人士稱，Adnoc已試圖解決科思創公司對其收購要約的擔憂，包括收購要約將如何幫助這家德國化工公司的管理層發展特種化學品業務。如果談判開始，Adnoc的出價可能有進一步提高的空間。

路易斯資本市場分析師本·凱利表示，Adnoc可能需要進一步提高報價，才能贏得科思創公司的青睞。

凱利說：“科思創公司知道Adnoc有能力支付，所以我認為他們會有耐心。”“每股61.5歐元的最新報價相當于8倍的EV/Ebitda（企業價值倍數：一種被廣泛使用的公司估值指標，其倍數相對于行業平均水平或歷史水平較高通常說明高估，較低說明低估，不同行業或板塊有不同的估值倍數水平。）在我們看來，科思創公司董事會更有可能接受這一報價。”  

目前還不清楚科思創公司將如何回應Adnoc的這一最新出價。Adnoc和科思創公司的代表拒絕置評。

幾乎包攬阿聯酋所有石油生產的Adnoc計劃投資1500億美元擴大原油、天然氣和化學品的生產能力。此外，Adnoc還在投資低碳能源。

李峻 譯自 彭博新聞社

原文如下：

Adnoc Raises Covestro Purchase Bid to $12.4B

Abu Dhabi National Oil Co., the energy giant seeking to expand its chemical operations through a series of ambitious deals, has boosted its takeover offer for Covestro AG to about EUR 11 billion ($12.4 billion), people familiar with the matter said. 

Adnoc increased its proposal to about EUR 57 per share in the hopes of convincing the German company to enter talks, the people said. That’s up from its first informal bid of around EUR 55. 

The state-backed firm voiced confidence in Covestro’s strategy and management, according to the people, who asked not to be identified because the information is private. 

Covestro shares fell 2.9 percent in Frankfurt trading Wednesday, giving the company a market value of EUR 9.4 billion. The stock had jumped in late trading on Tuesday, following the Bloomberg News report on Adnoc increasing its offer, to close at its highest level since February 2022. 

Last month, Leverkusen-based Covestro rejected Adnoc’s earlier proposal as too low, people familiar with the matter said at the time. Covestro also raised questions around Adnoc’s plans for its specialties operations.

Adnoc Chief Executive Officer Sultan Al Jaber has been busy hunting for deals to better compete with Saudi Aramco and its Sabic chemical unit. The Abu Dhabi firm 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 mooted 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. Adnoc has been expanding a refining and chemicals hub in Abu Dhabi to find additional outlets for its oil and natural gas production and make the plastics that go into consumer goods.

Adnoc has tried to address Covestro’s concerns about its offer, including over how it would help the German company’s management develop the specialty chemical operations, according the people. If negotiations are entered, there could be scope for further increases in Adnoc’s bid. 

Ben Kelly, an analyst at Louis Capital Markets, said Adnoc may need to go higher still to win over Covestro.

“Covestro knows Adnoc can afford to pay up so I think they’ll be patient,” Kelly said. “An improved offer of EUR 61.5 would equate to 8x EV/Ebitda and in our opinion would be more likely to be accepted by the Covestro board.”

Deliberations are ongoing, and it’s unclear how Covestro will respond to the latest proposal. Representatives for Adnoc and Covestro declined to comment. 

Adnoc, which produces almost all the oil in the United Arab Emirates, plans to invest $150 billion to expand production capacity for crude, natural gas and chemicals. It’s also investing in low-carbon energy.