BASF and Bayer Clash over Insecticide Deal

Two German chemical giants are facing off over allegations that vital information was missing in a €1.2 billion deal between BASF and rival Bayer. BASF said it believes Bayer deliberately withheld key information when it sold parts of its insecticides business to BASF last year. The two companies are at loggerheads over a transaction concerning a number of crop protection products, including the insecticide Fipronil, in 2003. Bayer was ordered to sell these product lines as a condition for its acquisition of CropScience from the Franco-German life sciences giant Aventis. The two companies are currently trying to settle the matter out of court, but should no agreement be reached, BASF might take legal action against Bayer, BASF said in a statement.