Clariant has had a team of seven since 2016 to conduct merger talks without external lawyers. The Zurich Cantonal Bank chemistry expert, Philipp Gamper, is surprised by the merger plans, but sees the Ashland, Celanese and WR Grace companies as complementary to Clariant: "They are strong in North America and would complement the Basle regionally." And Daniel Buchta, chemical analyst at Bank Vontobel says: "To strengthen the catalyst business, I could imagine merging with WR Grace."
Buchta also considers German Evonik to be a suitable merger partner. However, group circles emphasize that no one wants to know anything about this in Basel. At Evonik, the unions are far too strong; radical restructuring is impossible. And the company headquarters cannot remain in Switzerland as planned.
"Certainly, the worldwide restrictions regarding Covid-19 do not make the process of a merger easy at the moment, but it is not impossible and certainly not a show stopper - there is at most a time delay," says Uwe Nickel, chemical expert at M&A consultant Proventis Partners.