Chemical maker Basell said on Tuesday it would buy Lyondell Chemical Co. for about $12.14 billion, giving it access to Lyondell's commodity assets and refining capacity.

Basell has been seeking acquisitions in the chemical sector and was last week trumped by Apollo Management's Hexion Specialty Chemicals in a bid for Huntsman Corp. It also recently lost out to Saudi-based SABIC in the auction process for General Electric Co.'s GE Plastics.

Basell, which is owned by U.S. industrialist Len Blavatnik's Access Industries, will pay Lyondell stockholders $48 per common share. That's a 19.6 percent premium to Monday's closing price of $40.12.

The all-cash deal, valued at $12.14 billion, is based on Lyondell's shares outstanding as of March 31.

The deal has a total enterprise value of about $19 billion, including the assumption of debt, the companies said in a joint statement.

The transaction has been unanimously approved by the boards of directors of both Basell and Lyondell.

Houston-based Lyondell is one of the largest North American chemical makers and a major producer of ethylene and propylene oxide, which are used to make plastics, varnishes and other products. Lyondell is also a refiner of heavy, high-sulfur crude oil and a producer of fuel products.

Basell and Lyondell together would have had combined 2006 revenues of about $34 billion and 15,000 employees around the world, according to the companies statement.

The deal is expected to close within the next several months and is not subject to financing.

(Reporting by Euan Rocha)