BASF completes sale of oleochemical surfactants business in Mexico to the Stepan Company

Transaction includes manufacturing site in Ecatepec, Estado de Mexico

MEXICO CITY, MEXICO, March 26, 2018 – BASF Mexicana, S.A. de C.V. has closed the previously announced sale of a portion of its oleochemical surfactants business in Mexico to Stepan CDMX, S. de R.L. de C.V. The transaction includes the Mexico oleochemical surfactants product portfolio and associated intellectual property, as well as the production assets at the Ecatepec manufacturing site in Estado de Mexico. BASF has transferred 108 employees to the Stepan Company.

“We thank our Ecatepec employees for their contributions and wish them future success as part of the Stepan team,” said Scott Thomson, Senior Vice President, BASF Care Chemicals, North America. “Moving forward, we will help customers in Mexico by continuing to provide home care, personal care, agricultural and industrial solutions, including optical effects, specialty co-surfactants, actives, emulsifiers and polymers."

BASF’s leading oleochemical surfactants business in the U.S., Europe, and Asia will continue serving customers in those markets. Oleochemical surfactants are used primarily for making soaps and detergents in a wide range of home care and personal care products.

About BASF´s Care Chemicals division

The BASF Care Chemicals division offers a broad range of ingredients for personal care, hygiene, home care, industrial & institutional cleaning, agricultural and technical applications. We are the global leading supplier for the cosmetics industry as well as the detergents and cleaners industry and support our customers with innovative and sustainable products, solutions and concepts. The division’s high-performance product portfolio includes surfactants, emulsifiers, polymers, emollients, chelating agents, cosmetic active ingredients and UV filters. Superabsorbent polymers developed for the full spectrum of hygiene applications complete the range. We have production and development sites in all regions and are expanding our presence in emerging markets. Further information is available on the Internet at www.care-chemicals.basf.com.

About BASF Mexico

BASF Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean has their corporate offices in Mexico City. With more than 2,500 employees and 12 production sites in the region. For further information, visit www.basf.com.mx.

About BASF

BASF Corporation, headquartered in Florham Park, New Jersey, is the North American affiliate of BASF SE, Ludwigshafen, Germany. BASF has more than 18,200 employees in North America, and had sales of $17.9 billion in 2017. For more information about BASF’s North American operations, visit www.basf.com.

At BASF, we create chemistry for a sustainable future. We combine economic success with environmental protection and social responsibility. The more than 115,000 employees in the BASF Group work on contributing to the success of our customers in nearly all sectors and almost every country in the world. Our portfolio is organized into five segments: Chemicals, Performance Products, Functional Materials & Solutions, Agricultural Solutions and Oil & Gas. BASF generated sales of €64.5 billion in 2017. BASF shares are traded on the stock exchanges in Frankfurt (BAS), London (BFA) and Zurich (BAS). Further information at www.basf.com.

P-US-18-034