FRANKFURT Oct 10 (Reuters) - BASF has agreed

to sell a majority stake in its coatings business to private

equity firm Carlyle and the Qatar Investment Authority,

valuing the unit at 7.7 billion euros ($8.91 billion).

In a joint statement, the companies said on Friday that BASF

would retain a 40% stake in the coatings business and that it

would also receive a pre-tax cash inflow of about 5.8 billion

euros on completion of the transaction.

($1 = 0.8642 euros)