Wintershall says planned merger with DEA will help cut some overlap

KASSEL, Germany- The planned merger of German chemicals group BASF's BASFn.DE oil and gas unit Wintershall with peer DEA will allow for synergies by reducing overlap, Wintershall chief executive said on Wednesday.

Mario Mehren told reporters that both firms produced oil at the German Mittelplate oil field, and oil and gas at the site in northern German Barnstorf as well as in various fields in Norway.

"We will look into possible overlap," he said, adding that deliberations were at an early stage.

Looking at the headquarters of the two companies - located in Kassel and Hamburg respectively - there were chances to reap cost savings, he said.

The due diligence of the deal was currently ongoing. Thereafter, an integration plan would be drawn up, and only then would details would be made available to employees and markets.

Parent firm BASF said last week the merger will likely close by the end of the third quarter of 2018. 

(Reporting by Vera Eckert Editing by Arno Schuetze) ((vera.eckert@thomsonreuters.com; +49 69 7565 1228; Reuters Messaging: vera.eckert.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))