BASF says Wintershall IPO is off the cards, for now: press

Plans to take Wintershall Dea public have been put on hold due to its exposure to Russian oil and gas assets, Reuters reported April 28.

BASF, the German chemicals production company that owns 50% in Wintershall Dea, remains committed to a stock listing but says holding the offering too quickly would risk Winterhsall being punished for challenges in its Russian portfolio.

Wintershall participates in three gas and condensate projects in Russia's Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Area: Urengoyskoye, Achim and Yuzhno-Russkoye. In light of the Ukraine war, Wintershall has decided to suspend new gas and oil investments in Russia. It has already removed €1bn in loans from its books related to Gazprom's aborted Nord Stream 2 pipeline.

"We want to list the company on the stock exchange. Wintershall Dea has interests in production facilities in Russia. This makes an IPO difficult at this time," said Wintershall CEO Martin Brudermueller.

BASF had been the main driving force pushing for Wintershall Dea to be listed. During the oil price crash of the last decade, Wintershall was an earnings drag to its group-wide financials, and the German chemicals firm no longer sees oil and gas as a priority for its growth structure.

LetterOne is the other JV partner at Wintershall Dea, following a merger of its former DEA business with BASF's Wintershall in 2019. Its biggest shareholders are the Russian billionaire investors Mikhail Fridman and Petr Aven, though both have been locked out of the business due to the Ukraine war.

The IPO was originally scheduled for the second half of 2021, but was delayed as the shareholders decided to wait for stronger oil and gas market fundamentals to filter into the stock market consensus.