Ciba to acquire Clariant - further speculation

There is further, increased market speculation (eg Bloomberg) that Ciba will make moves to acquire Clariant, especially since the departure of the CEO, Jan Secher. There has been speculation that both Ciba and Clariant are acquisition targets (see earlier blog), but another option is for for the ailing Swiss companies to get into bed with one another - difficult to see a positive outcome, but perhaps Ciba could make a go of the venture, although their assimilation of past acquisitions has not been exemplary.

In 1988 Ciba and Clariant held unsuccessful merger talks, but as the Bloomberg article points out, Clariant Chairman Juerg Witmer has a reputation as favouring mergers and acquisitions and may have clashed with Jan Secher's wish for Clariant to go it alone. Witmer has since stated that Clariant do not want to sell their Textile, Leather and Paper Division, which would make sense if the two Swiss companies joined forces, allowing them to re-jig the entire, combined portfolio after merging.

Ciba and Clariant will have to do something to survive .............. watch this space for more news.