Several activities were to be maintained around Ciba's base in Basel however, including BASF's new paper chemicals division and a research centre, the statement said. A strategy for Ciba's water treatment business would be developed by next year, it added. Chairman Juergen Hambrecht said the combined BASF and Ciba businesses "can be successful in the long term only if we optimise them and exploit the full potential for synergies." Talks with workers' representatives were underway, and Hambrecht pledged to make job cuts "in a fair and transparent way." BASF is a global leader in the chemical sector, including plastics and agricultural products, and is also active in the exploration and sale of oil and gas. BASF shares added 0.18 percent to 27.71 euros in afternoon trading in Frankfurt, while the DAX index of German blue chips was 1.38 percent lower overall. "It was not a huge surprise," Merck Finck analyst Carsten Kunold told Dow Jones Newswires.