Details on this story are not yet available, but according to statements that Evonik has made to the Financial Times Deutschland over the last several days, it appears that Evonik is restructuring its businesses and may break up its three major units dedicated to Energy, Real Estate, and Chemicals. Today, Evonik placed Steag, its energy division, up for sale. As part of this process, Evonik has separated the carbon black business within Evonik’s organizational structure, though the carbon black business continues to operate under Evonik.
It is difficult to determine the extent of the restructuring because all of the statements are in German, and so are based on my rough translation. Evonik has not yet directly responded to a request for clarification. (see below) Under a December 2007 restructuring, the carbon black business operated under the Inorganic Materials unit, part of the Technical Specialties segment. More details as they become available.
Here are the relevant links, all from the Financial Times Deutschland: Evonik: Zurück auf Los in Essen Evonik stellt Steag zum Verkauf Evonik: warum nicht gleich so (audio) ______________________________________________________
An Evonik spokesperson has issued the following statement in response to a request for clarification of the current restructuring:
“The rumours [of a sale of the carbon black business] are not correct. It is correct that the management and employee representatives have agreed to examine a possible carve-out of the carbon blacks business. Any further steps will depend on the outcome of the present examination.”