Adnoc’s global energy investment arm XRG announced on Thursday that it would become the majority shareholder of Covestro, after the German chemicals company’s shareholders accepted a takeover offer.
Shares tendered and already bought by XRG amount to 91.32 per cent of Covestro's total outstanding shares, XRG said in a statement on Thursday. The deal, which is expected to close in the second half of 2025, is subject to further regulatory approvals, the company added.
In October, XRG, which was called Adnoc International at the time, agreed to buy Covestro for an enterprise value of €14.7 billion ($15.3 billion). “Today’s significant milestone marks the first major transformational investment for XRG in chemicals, accelerating our ambition to become a top five global chemicals player,” said Dr Sultan Al Jaber, executive chairman of XRG and Adnoc’s chief executive.
Adnoc's acquisition of Covestro is the UAE's largest cross-border deal and the biggest foreign direct investment into Germany in the past five years. Leverkusen-based Covestro is one of the world’s largest manufacturers of high-quality polymer materials and their components. It reported earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation of €287 million in the third quarter of this year, which was up nearly 4 per cent from the same period a year in 2023.
However, the company reduced its full-year 2024 earnings forecast for the second time this year, citing challenging economic conditions. Covestro now expects earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation to be in the range of €1 billion and €1.25 billion, down from its previous forecast of €1.0 billion to €1.4 billion.
“Covestro lies at the heart of XRG’s growth plans and complements its decarbonisation and advanced technologies leadership goals,” XRG said. European chemical companies such as Covestro saw their profit margins squeezed by elevated natural gas prices triggered by the Russia-Ukraine war.
This year, Adnoc increased its shareholdings in Borealis and Borouge – joint ventures with OMV – by acquiring a 24.9 per cent stake in the Austrian energy company. In July, a consortium comprising Borouge, Adnoc and Borealis signed an agreement with Chinese companies to set up a polyolefins complex in Fujian Province, which will have a capacity of 1.6 million tonnes a year.
By 2030, the petrochemical industry’s global market value is expected to exceed $1 trillion, from $584.5 billion in 2022, according to Statista. China, the world’s second-largest economy, plans to add capacity of 134 million tonnes per year, dominating the market in the medium term, the data portal said.
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Our legal columnist
Name: Yousef Al Bahar
Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994
Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers
Student Of The Year 2
Director: Punit Malhotra
Stars: Tiger Shroff, Tara Sutaria, Ananya Pandey, Aditya Seal
1.5 stars
2018 ICC World Twenty20 Asian Western Regional Qualifier
Saturday results
Qatar beat Kuwait by 26 runs
Bahrain beat Maldives by six wickets
UAE beat Saudi Arabia by seven wickets
Monday fixtures
Maldives v Qatar
Saudi Arabia v Kuwait
Bahrain v UAE
* The top three teams progress to the Asia Qualifier
Red flags
- Promises of high, fixed or 'guaranteed' returns.
- Unregulated structured products or complex investments often used to bypass traditional safeguards.
- Lack of clear information, vague language, no access to audited financials.
- Overseas companies targeting investors in other jurisdictions - this can make legal recovery difficult.
- Hard-selling tactics - creating urgency, offering 'exclusive' deals.
Courtesy: Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching
Film: Raid
Dir: Rajkumar Gupta
Starring: Ajay Devgn, Ileana D'cruz and Saurabh Shukla
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MATCH INFO
Leeds United 0
Brighton 1 (Maupay 17')
Man of the match: Ben White (Brighton)
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Biography
Favourite drink: Must have karak chai and Chinese tea every day
Favourite non-Chinese food: Arabic sweets and Indian puri, small round bread of wheat flour
Favourite Chinese dish: Spicy boiled fish or anything cooked by her mother because of its flavour
Best vacation: Returning home to China
Music interests: Enjoys playing the zheng, a string musical instrument
Enjoys reading: Chinese novels, romantic comedies, reading up on business trends, government policy changes
Favourite book: Chairman Mao Zedong’s poems
Jetour T1 specs
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Schedule for show courts
Centre Court - from 4pm UAE time
Johanna Konta (6) v Donna Vekic
Andy Murray (1) v Dustin Brown
Rafael Nadal (4) v Donald Young
Court 1 - from 4pm UAE time
Kei Nishikori (9) v Sergiy Stakhovsky
Qiang Wang v Venus Williams (10)
Beatriz Haddad Maia v Simona Halep (2)
Court 2 - from 2.30pm
Heather Watson v Anastasija Sevastova (18)
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (12) v Simone Bolelli
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4.45pm: Handicap Dh80,000 1,800m
The National selections
1.45pm: Cosmic Glow
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2.45pm: Welcome Surprise
3.15pm: Taamol
3.45pm: Rayig
4.15pm: Chiefdom
4.45pm: California Jumbo
Quarter-finals
Saturday (all times UAE)
England v Australia, 11.15am
New Zealand v Ireland, 2.15pm
Sunday
Wales v France, 11.15am
Japan v South Africa, 2.15pm
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
HIJRA
Starring: Lamar Faden, Khairiah Nathmy, Nawaf Al-Dhufairy
Director: Shahad Ameen
Rating: 3/5
The biog
Name: Maitha Qambar
Age: 24
Emirate: Abu Dhabi
Education: Master’s Degree
Favourite hobby: Reading
She says: “Everyone has a purpose in life and everyone learns from their experiences”
UAE v Ireland
1st ODI, UAE win by 6 wickets
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Evacuations to France hit by controversy
- Over 500 Gazans have been evacuated to France since November 2023
- Evacuations were paused after a student already in France posted anti-Semitic content and was subsequently expelled to Qatar
- The Foreign Ministry launched a review to determine how authorities failed to detect the posts before her entry
- Artists and researchers fall under a programme called Pause that began in 2017
- It has benefited more than 700 people from 44 countries, including Syria, Turkey, Iran, and Sudan
- Since the start of the Gaza war, it has also included 45 Gazan beneficiaries
- Unlike students, they are allowed to bring their families to France
Company profile
Name: Dukkantek
Started: January 2021
Founders: Sanad Yaghi, Ali Al Sayegh and Shadi Joulani
Based: UAE
Number of employees: 140
Sector: B2B Vertical SaaS(software as a service)
Investment: $5.2 million
Funding stage: Seed round
Investors: Global Founders Capital, Colle Capital Partners, Wamda Capital, Plug and Play, Comma Capital, Nowais Capital, Annex Investments and AMK Investment Office
The view from The National
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more from Janine di Giovanni
ASHES FIXTURES
1st Test: Brisbane, Nov 23-27
2nd Test: Adelaide, Dec 2-6
3rd Test: Perth, Dec 14-18
4th Test: Melbourne, Dec 26-30
5th Test: Sydney, Jan 4-8
The Voice of Hind Rajab
Starring: Saja Kilani, Clara Khoury, Motaz Malhees
Director: Kaouther Ben Hania
Rating: 4/5
House-hunting
Top 10 locations for inquiries from US house hunters, according to Rightmove
- Edinburgh, Scotland
- Westminster, London
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Two products to make at home
Toilet cleaner
1 cup baking soda
1 cup castile soap
10-20 drops of lemon essential oil (or another oil of your choice)
Method:
1. Mix the baking soda and castile soap until you get a nice consistency.
2. Add the essential oil to the mix.
Air Freshener
100ml water
5 drops of the essential oil of your choice (note: lavender is a nice one for this)
Method:
1. Add water and oil to spray bottle to store.
2. Shake well before use.
Funk Wav Bounces Vol.1
Calvin Harris
Columbia
