U.S. business magazine FORTUNE: BASF is the world’s most admired chemical company

Results of “Word’s Most Admired Companies 2009” survey published

Ludwigshafen , Germany – BASF is the world’s most admired chemical company according to a survey carried out by the U.S. business magazine FORTUNE. The full results of the survey are published in the current edition, which goes on sale on Monday, March 9.

In the 2009 list of the “World’s Most Admired Companies" BASF is ranked the top company in the chemical industry, up one place compared with 2008. Industry experts voted BASF into top position in the chemical industry in eight of nine categories, which included product and service quality, innovation, global competitiveness, financial soundness and quality of management.

For the survey, FORTUNE and its partner Hay Group selected approximately 700 companies worldwide, which were then ranked by more than 4,000 directors, executives and managers in the respective industries.

Further information about the survey can be found on the Internet at http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/mostadmired.

Note to editors:
You can download a photo from the BASF homepage at www.basf.com/pressphoto-database, key word: “BASF SE,” search term: “FORTUNE.”

BASF is the world’s leading chemical company: The Chemical Company. Its portfolio ranges from chemicals, plastics and performance products to agricultural products, fine chemicals as well as oil and gas. As a reliable partner BASF helps its customers in virtually all industries to be more successful. With its high-value products and intelligent solutions, BASF plays an important role in finding answers to global challenges such as climate protection, energy efficiency, nutrition and mobility. BASF has approximately 97,000 employees and posted sales of more than €62 billion in 2008. BASF shares are traded on the stock exchanges in Frankfurt (BAS), London (BFA) and Zurich (AN). Further information on BASF is available on the Internet at www.basf.com.