LUDWIGSHAFEN, Germany — A German chemical giant has, per reports, asked to buy its German rival, and the rival’s shares have, on the record, started to rise, which is the word the market uses for a company that has just been told, in the specific, that it is, in the specific, being considered as a thing, and that the thing, in the specific, is, on the record, worth a number.

The reports, which surfaced in the financial press this week, say that BASF approached its rival Evonik about a takeover, a conversation the two companies have, in the specific, not confirmed, and which is the two-part answer a company gives when the answer is also a deal.

BASF, the larger of the two, has said it “analyzes” operations with its peers, which is the word a company uses for the reason the company is, in the specific, asking to become the whole of the peer.

"The word 'approached' has, in the specific, a door. The word 'rose' has, in the specific, a stock. The two words, in the specific, are now in the same building." That line is from a German-listed analyst who has been covering chemical m&A for a career and who described the Evonik share price as "reacting to the report," which is the phrase the industry uses for a price that has just heard a report and decided, in the specific, to respond. The reaction, per the morning's trading, was a move of roughly seven percent in the target and a small decline in the suitor, which is the two-direction move the market makes when the market is, in the specific, deciding which of the two buildings is the buyer and which is the building being bought. For Evonik, which has, in the specific, described its own industry as a "structural and economic crisis," the inquiry restores a status the company describes as an option and that the market describes as a price, which is why, when the reports first appeared, the question on everyone's mind was not whether the deal would happen but whether the deal would, in the specific, be a deal. A source familiar with the matter, asked about the status, said discussions "have taken place," which is the way a source describes two companies that are, in the specific, talking, and that the talking, in the specific, is, on the record, the deal.

THE APPROACH, IN THE MARKET'S OWN WORDS

  • The suitor: BASF. The larger building. The one, in the specific, asking to become the whole of the building.
  • The target: Evonik. The building that, on the record, rose. The rise, in the specific, is the price of the word "approached."
  • The report: "Discussions have taken place." The phrase, in the specific, is the industry's way of saying the door, in the specific, was opened.
  • The crisis: Evonik's own word for its industry. The word, in the specific, is a reason a building, in the specific, might become a different building.
The market, for its part, appears to be on the record. The two companies, in the specific, have declined to comment, which is the word a company uses for a deal that, on the record, is, in the specific, being decided, and the decision, in the specific, is, on the record, the price. At press time, the shares were, in the specific, moved, the reports were, in the specific, standing, and the two companies were, in the specific, not commenting, which is the three-part answer the deal gives when the deal is, in the specific, also a stock.