Pigment purchase
4 Aug 2005
Altana Chemie, the Specialty Chemicals division of Altana, is to acquire the Fürth, Germany-based Eckart for 630 million Euros.
Eckart, an international specialty chemicals group, is a manufacturer of metallic effect pigments and metallic printing inks. In 2004, the company achieved a sales volume of 302 million Euros and operating earnings (EBITDA) of 65 million. Eckart employs about 1,850 people worldwide.
After approval by the relevant antitrust authorities, the company will be integrated into Altana’s Chemicals Division in the fourth quarter of 2005.
With the Eckart acquisition, Altana Chemie is expected to achieve a pro forma sales volume of about 1.2 billion Euros and an EBITDA margin of about 20% of sales. There will be eight new production sites and the number of Altana Chemie’s employees will rise to over 4,000.
”Our chemicals division is now positioned in such a way that it will make sense to separate it as an independent and listed company”, said Dr. Nikolaus Schweickart, President and CEO of Altana.
“After Eckart’s integration into Altana Chemie, we will therefore establish the Altana Chemie as an independently operating and separately listed company in the course of 2006,“ he added.
Altana Pharma will also operate independently as a separately listed company in the future as well.
