RE: Get rid of BASF.4 Jun 2026 13:22
In their trading statement dated 07/05/2026, HBR stated that:
Post period end in April we used cash on balance sheet to repay the c.$240 million October 2026 bond maturity and, in May, repaid the remaining drawn balance under the Revolving Credit Facility.
Relying on the statement the debt should be less than $6bn by the 7th of may.
In addition to that, by the end of Q2 the Waldorf acquisition shoud have completed, which together with the Indonisian asset disposal, put an additional FCF of $400m. This should help HBR to make off-market purchases of own shares from BASF, as per resolution 23 of the 2026 AGM.
BASF has been very naughty indeed. This year we've had five TR1 RNSs regarding their HBR holdings so far:
1- In the 18/02/2026 RNS just after the LLOG transaction was completed, their holdings came down to 656,157,041 shares (from 669,714,027), which implies that they sold 13,556,986 shares in the open market into the buyback.
2- By the 20/03/2026 RNS they held 646,912,035 shares, which shows that they sold a further 9,245,006 shares on the open market taking advantage of the rise in SP due to the SOH closure.
3- By the 31/03/2026 RNS they held only 559,918,867 shares. This is a reduction of 86,993,168 shares from the one reported previously. So, a further 6,993,168 shares were sold in the open market as well as the 80m shares placing.
4- In 18/05/2026 there were 2 RNSs. In the first one the holdings came down to 552,616,455 shares (presumably meaning they sold 7,302,412 shares on the open market?). In the second one the holdings came down to 402,616,455 shares; i.e. 150m shares less than the previous number, which we learned were bought by Altor Finance Limited.
Altogether, they reduced their HBR shareholding by 267,097,572 shares in around 6 months time! This is a massive reduction of 39.88% in their holdings in such a short period.
Best Regards ValueS
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