Essen,Germany -- Evonik Industries, a leading producer of polyurethaneadditives, has added the range of foam stabiliserssupplied by BYK-Chemie GmbH of Wesel, Germany, to its portfolio. Thedeal includes BYK's existing business contacts and expertise in themanufacture of these products, sold under the Silbyk tradename, but noassets or personnel.
Nofinancial details were released, but BYK said that worldwide sales ofits PU additives business were about €5 million in 2009. The staffinvolved in the development and production of the polyurethane foamstabilisers will remain employed at BYK's main factory in Wesel,the firm's statement added.
Themove allows Evonik to enhance its polyurethane additives business insome market segments and will strengthen its overall market positionin the long term, the Essen-based firm said in a 23 July statement.
Inaddition to foam stabilisers, Evonik'spolyurethane-related portfolio includes metal and amine catalysts,release agents, colorants, antioxidants, antistatic agents and otherperformance additives used in the manufacturing of polyurethane foamsand to provide certain physical properties to the final foamproducts.
Evonik Industries' core business isspeciality chemicals, where it claims to be a global leader. Inaddition, the firm says it is an expert in power generation from hardcoal and renewable energies, and one of the largest privateresidential real estate companies in Germany.
Evonikis active in over 100 countries around the world. In its fiscal year2009 about 39 000 employees generated sales of about €13.1 billionand an operating profit (EBITDA) of about €2.0 billion.
TheBYK activities are part of the Altana Group, a maker of specialitychemicals operating in four divisions: BYKAdditives &Instruments, EckartEffect Pigments, ElantasElectrical Insulation, andActegaCoatings & Sealants.These employ around 1200 staff worldwide, more than 600 of them inWesel. In 2009, the turnover of these operations amounted to €420million.
Theremaining activities of the BYK additives unit will be unaffected bythe deal. These include additives for the coatings, printing inks,and plastics industries as well as paper surface finishing, theproduction of adhesives and sealants, construction chemistry andmould release agents for aluminum die casting. BYK additives are alsoused to improve product properties and production processes. BYKInstruments develops measuring instruments for the objectiveassessment of colour, appearance, and the physical properties ofcoatings, plastics, and paper surfaces.
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