Broad base of international shareholders

With over 500,000 shareholders, BASF is one of the largest publicly owned companies with a high free float. An analysis of the shareholder structure carried out at the end of 2016 showed that, at 18% of share capital, the United States and Canada made up the largest regional group of institutional investors. Institutional investors from Germany accounted for 11%. Shareholders from the United Kingdom and Ireland hold 11% of BASF shares, while institutional investors from the rest of Europe hold a further 17% of capital. Approximately 29% of the company’s share capital is held by private investors, most of whom reside in Germany. BASF is therefore one of the DAX 30 companies with the largest percentage of private shareholders.

Shareholder structure (by region)

Employees becoming shareholders

In many countries, we offer share purchase programs that turn our employees into BASF shareholders. In 2016, for example, around 24,000 employees (2015: 21,600) purchased employee shares worth about €59 million (2015: €60 million).