Evonik seeks buyer or partner for acrylics business

Essen, Germany - Speciality chemicals maker Evonik Industries AG is looking to sell off or find a partner for its Performance Materials unit, which includes acrylic sheet and resin, as well as other speciality plastics materials.

In an 17 Aug interview with Dow Jones Newswires, Evonik Finance Director Ute Wolf said the Essen, Germany-based firm can’t achieve the economies of scale that would be necessary for the long-lasting competitiveness of the Performance Materials unit.

“There are certainly other investors, corporations and industry groups which could make more of it,” she added.

Based on sales, Performance Materials was the smallest of Evonik’s three operating units in the first half of 2015. The unit posted sales of €938 million, down 4 percent vs. the first half of 2014. That amount represented about 27 percent of Evonik’s first-half sales total.

Performance Materials’ adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) in the first half essentially was flat at €82 million.

Officials with Evonik in Essen could not be reached for comment. In June 2014, the firm resumed production of polyamide 12 resin at a plant in Marl, Germany, that had been damaged by an explosion and fire in 2012.