Job cuts and site closures follow Ciba takeover
German chemical giant, BASF, has announced plans to cut jobs and close down Ciba sites as part of its integraton of the Basel-based specialty chemicals company.
A total of 3,700 jobs will go, of which 530 will be in Switzerland, and BASF may close as many as 23 of Ciba’s 55 sites, BASF said on Monday. A majority of the job losses will be at Ciba although some cuts will affect BASF staff.
Most of the cuts will be carried out by 2013 and a decision will be made on which sites to restructure, shut down or sell by the end of the first quarter of 2010. None of Ciba’s four sites in Switzerland is at risk of closure or being sold, BASF noted.
In a statement, BASF said it aimed to generate synergies of at least €400 million (SFr606 million) per year from 2012 and that by the end of 2010 savings should amount to €300 million.
BASF bought Ciba for SFr6.1 billion ($5.6 billion) at the start of 2009.
swissinfo.ch and agencies
In compliance with the JTI standards
More: SWI swissinfo.ch certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.