The announcement confirms the prediction of Johann-Caspar Gammelin, chairman of the board of management, at an Oct. 20 news conference at K 2016.
“It is rare to buy a business in the chemical industry without also having to buy something you don’t want,” Gammelin said at the time.The Air Products business which Evonik has purchased makes amine catalysts for polyurethanes.
"The successful completion of the acquisition paves the way for swiftly merging the activities of Evonik and the acquired units of the Air Products Performance Materials business," said Klaus Engel, chairman of the executive board of Evonik Industries. "It puts Evonik in an excellent position for further profitable growth in the attractive specialty additives market."
"We are well prepared to ensure a smooth business transition and a successful integration. To this end, we have worked intensively with Air Products over the past few months to develop integration plans," said Ralph Sven Kaufmann, Evonik coo, responsible for the integration.
Evonik confirmed that annual synergy effects of around $80m/year are expected and these should be "fully realised by 2020 at the latest." Evonik expects synergies of around EUR10 to 20m in 2017.
Evonik said it has purchased a business with around 1,100 employees at 11 production and development locations which offers local customer support in all key global regions.
