BASF Agrees to Buy Verenium as It Attacks DuPont, Novozymes

BASF SE, the world’s biggest chemical maker, agreed to buy Verenium Corp. to pursue growth in biotechnology and close the gap on market leaders DuPont Co. and Novozymes A/S in the $3 billion industrial enzyme industry.

The cash purchase of the San Diego-based company for $4 a share, or about $62 million including debt, gives BASF a gene pool that can be combined with its existing enzymes, it said in a statement today. The price paid is 56 percent higher than the six-month average price of Verenium.