FRANKFURT (Standard&Poor's) May 2, 2006--Standard&Poor's Ratings Services said today that its ratings on Germany-based chemicals producer BASF AG (AA-/Negative/A-1+) are unaffected by the group's announcement that it plans to acquire Johnson Polymer, a subsidiary of JohnsonDiversey Inc. (B/Stable/--), for a total consideration of about €370 million (US$470 million). However, BASF has reduced its financial flexibility within the rating in recent years by distributing a significant amount of money to shareholders in the form of dividends and share buybacks. Since the beginning of 1999, the company spent €5.4 billion on share buybacks and paid out about €6.3 billon in dividends. On Feb. 22, 2006, BASF announced its plans to buy back a further €500 million in shares
