BASF agrees to divest manufacturing site in Kankakee, Ill. By Mary Page Bailey | December 18, 2020 BASF SE (Ludwigshafen Germany) has reached an agreement to sell its manufacturing site in Kankakee, Illinois and the associated businesses of vegetable-oil-based raw material sterols and natural vitamin E, anionic surfactants and esters produced there to an affiliate of One Rock Capital Partners, LLC, a U.S.-based private equity firm. The businesses have around 160 employees including business management and commercial personnel across the U.S. The transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2021, subject to the approval of the relevant competition authorities. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.