Lone Star has entered exclusive negotiations to buy BASF’s construction chemicals business as the German chemicals company seeks to focus on more profitable operations, people close to the matter said. The private equity firm vied with a consortium comprising buyout groups Cinven – which owns peer Chryso – and Bain for the world’s largest maker of chemical additives for concrete, they said. A BASF spokesman confirmed that the company had proceeded to talk with only one bidder but declined to comment further.
