Evonik Industries reports successfully completing the divestment of its carbon black activities on July 29, 2011. The sale of the business to Rhône Capital and Triton Partners is valued at over 900 million euros, the company added.
Evonik Corporation’s divestiture of its carbon black business is expected to be complete by 1 August 2011, but with it will also come a name change. Announced earlier this year, Evonik divested itself of it Carbon Black Business Unit and sold it to affiliates of Rhone Capital and Triton. According to the company, the new business will be known as Orion Engineered Carbons. All of the silica-based products (Aerosil, Aeroxide, Acematt, Sipernat) will continue to be manufactured and sold by Evonik Inorganic Materials.
Following an investment of “tens of millions” of euros, Evonik Industries has added a high-purity isobutene plant to its facility in Antwerp, Belgium. The new plant can produce up to 110,000 tonnes of isobutene per annum and forms part of the site’s integrated C4 production platform. The investment has tripled Evonik’s production capacity for isobutene, which is used in butyl rubber of applications such as reducing air permeability in tyres.
Evonik Carbon Black GmbH, a subsidiary of Evonik Industries, is increasing prices for carbon black and carbon black preparations by up to 200 euros per tonne for deliveries to locations in Europe and the rest of the world. The price increase will be effective for all deliveries on or after April 1, 2011.
The race to acquire Evonik Industries’ carbon black business has narrowed following the withdrawal of Phillips Carbon Black from the final round of the bidding process. Dow Jones Newswires reports the company failed to submit a bid before the final deadline, leaving three or four contenders in the running – Advent International, Triton Partners, Rhone Capital, and possibly Cabot Corp., are said to still be interested.
Germany’s Evonik Industries has decided to divest its carbon blacks business. This divestment, claims Evonik Executive Board chairman Klaus Engel, provides “the best basis for sustained investment in carbon blacks, new growth prospects and for securing future-oriented jobs in the long-term.” Engel also states that the company’s declared aim in divesting the business is to find a solution “that is equally convincing for customers, employees and business partners.”
A reorganisation of Evonik’s carbon black activities has led to the founding of Evonik Carbon Black GmbH as a legally independent management company under the umbrella of Evonik Industries. The new company came into being on July 1 with Jack Clem in the position of CEO and Rainer Wobbe serving as CFO. The company’s operational headquarters is currently located in Frankfurt, Germany, however it will move to the city of Hanau on October 1. Evonik says the existing carbon black product portfolio and customer relationships will not be affected by the spin-off.
Evonik Industries launches has launched a new a new high performance carbon black for mechanical rubber goods. Purex HS 45-RP, as it is known, are said to satisfy special requirements concerning PAH (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon) content. Purex HS 45-RP is reportedly equivalent to Purex HS 45 with the abbreviation RP signifying “reduced PAH content.”
Capacity has been expanded at the Turkish joint venture silica facility belonging to Evonik Industries AG. Following the addition of a new dryer, in operation since the second half of last year, capacity at Egesil AS in Adapazari, near Izmit, has been lifted to 40,000 tons a year. Growing demand for tyre silica in Europe is the key factor behind the decision to take such a measure.
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