Reuters have been in contact with three sources, one of which suggested that a bid could emerge by next week. US chemicals company Lubrizol is another potential bidder in a deal thought to be worth around €3 billion/ ¢4 billion. Financial Times Deutschland has reported that BASF's supervisory board has approved the bid for Cognis.

UPDATE: It is now believed that Lubrizol and UK-based Croda have withdrawn interest in the buy-out, which has been reportedly linked to BASF since 2008.

Perima and Goldman Sachs paid €2.5bn for Cognis in 2001, but since the recession struck, estimates of the company's value have dipped to €1.5bn.