The German group was mulling the reorganisation, sale or closure of 23 of Ciba's 55 former production sites, and planned to make a decision by early 2010, it said. "In certain areas, Ciba can be better organised," the spokesman added. BASF, which acquired Ciba in April for 3.8 billion euros (5.3 billion US dollars), hopes to save 300 million euros by the end of next year and has estimated the benefits of the acquisition at around 400 million euros a year starting in 2012. It put the cost of integrating Ciba into its operations at 550 million euros, of which 150 million would be booked this year. In April, BASF said it would get rid of at least 2,000 posts by the end of the year.