Equity firm to exit from Sud-Chemie next year – CEO

05 October 2010 17:34  [Source: ICIS news]

TORONTO (ICIS)--Equity firm One Equity Partners is likely to sell its stake in German specialty chemicals and catalyst firm Sud-Chemie next year, Sud-Chemie's CEO Gunter von Au said on Tuesday.

“We are assuming that this [One Equity’s exit] will happen next year,” von Au told German business daily Handelsblatt in an interview. A company spokesperson confirmed the interview to ICIS.

Von Au said One Equity’s exit could be an opportunity for Sud-Chemie to raise additional capital for its electric vehicle battery projects, possibly as part of a “broad public share offering by mid-2011.”

Alternatively, a stake could be sold to a strategic investor, he said.

Sud-Chemie was focussing on the high-growth sector of electric vehicle battery technology, a move that would profoundly change the company, he said.

Sud-Chemie recently announced a lithium iron phosphate project in Canada's Quebec province.

One Equity, an affiliate of JP Morgan, acquired a stake in Sud-Chemie in 2005 and later boosted its shareholding in the Munich-based specialty chemicals firm to over 50%.

For more on Sud-Chemie and other producers visit ICIS company intelligence
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By: Stefan Baumgarten
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