Ad-hoc | 22 February 2006 09:43

BASF completes €1.5 billion share buyback program

Ad hoc announcement transmitted by DGAP – a company of EquityStory AG. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. —————————————————————————— BASF completes €1.5 billion share buyback program and plans to buy back shares for a further €500 million In mid-February 2006, BASF completed its €1.5 billion share buyback program that it announced in April 2005. Of this amount, €339 million was spent to buy back shares in 2006. Under the program, a total of 26.3 million shares was bought back at an average price of €56.93. The Board of Executive Directors of BASF Aktiengesellschaft, Ludwigshafen, has decided to continue with the company’s share buyback program, and plans to buy back shares for a further €500 million up to the company’s Annual Meeting in 2007. The buyback can start immediately. The Board of Executive Directors will propose at the Annual Meeting on May 4, 2006, to extend the existing authorization to buy back shares, which is valid until October 27, 2006. The aim of buying back shares is to reduce the equity ratio. The shares will be cancelled, thus reducing the share capital of BASF Aktiengesellschaft accordingly. BASF has reduced the number of outstanding shares by 20.7 percent between the start of the share buyback program in 1999 and mid-February 2006. BASF is the world’s leading chemical company: The Chemical Company. Its portfolio ranges from chemicals, plastics, performance products, agricultural products and fine chemicals to crude oil and natural gas. As a reliable partner to virtually all industries, BASF’s intelligent system solutions and high-value products help its customers to be more successful. BASF develops new technologies and uses them to open up additional market opportunities. It combines economic success with environmental protection and social responsibility, thus contributing to a better future. In 2005, BASF had approximately 81,000 employees and posted sales of more than €42.7 billion. BASF shares are traded on the stock exchanges in Frankfurt (BAS), London (BFA), New York (BF) and Zurich (AN). Further information on BASF is available on the Internet at www.basf.com. (c)DGAP 22.02.2006 ————————————————————————— language: English emitter: BASF AG Carl-Bosch-Straße 38 67056 Ludwigshafen Deutschland phone: +49 (0)621 60-0 fax: +49 (0)621 60-4 25 25 email: info.service@basf-ag.de WWW: www.basf-ag.de ISIN: DE0005151005 WKN: 515 100 indexes: DAX, EURO STOXX 50 stockmarkets: Amtlicher Markt in Berlin-Bremen, Frankfurt, Düsseldorf; Freiverkehr in Hannover, Stuttgart, München, Hamburg; Foreign Exchange(s) London End of News DGAP News-Service —————————————————————