Evonik about to divest its performance materials businesses
According to the company, Evonik is aligning its portfolio completely to its three growth divisions: Specialty Additives, Nutrition & Care, and Smart Materials. “The businesses we are withdrawing from on strategic grounds are being optimally set up to give them a responsible route to a good future,” said Christian Kullmann, chairman of Evonik’s executive board. Preparations are already under way for the exit of all three businesses of Performance Materials – Superabsorbents, Functional Solutions and Performance Intermediates. Evonik aims to find new owners or partners for each of these three businesses in the course of 2023.
Green transformation
As the company points out, the proceeds from the divestment of the Performance Materials businesses and the operating cash flow in the coming years will be channeled to the green transformation. By 2030, Evonik aims to invest more than EUR 3 billion in Next Generation Solutions – products with superior sustainability benefits. That is around 80 percent of annual growth investments. In the same period, a further EUR 700 million will be invested in Next Generation Technologies, i.e., the optimisation of production processes and infrastructure to avoid CO2 emissions.