Evonik wants to part with hundreds of employees during the restructuring

According to the Essen-based specialty chemicals group Evonik, it wants to prepare two of its divisions for growth and to do so, it also wants to divest some of its businesses. The Coating & Adhesive Resins and Health Care divisions will focus on their respective core businesses.

‘Various solutions will be implemented for the businesses outside these cores,‘ the group announced. They could be passed on to new owners or even discontinued. A total of 350 million euros in sales and hundreds of employees are affected. ‘We will align our resources of all kinds with our strongest businesses,’ said Evonik CEO Christian Kullmann. Evonik will part with other businesses.

In the Health Care division, Evonik will focus on the growth areas of lipids for mRNA and gene therapies, drug delivery systems and cell culture ingredients. The production of keto acids for pharmaceutical applications in Hanau, Hesse, is to be discontinued at the end of 2025. Around 260 people will be affected. Two other sites in France and China are to be sold or incorporated into partnerships.

Several areas are for sale

The Coating & Adhesive Resins division is to focus on liquid polybutadienes as additives for adhesives and sealants or car tyres, for example, and special acrylates for medical technology and the packaging industry. Other areas will be put up for sale. Evonik wants to focus on high-margin and high-growth businesses in the specialty chemicals sector.

The group has already disposed of units in the past, and the business currently known internally as C4-Verbund, with over 1000 employees, is also up for sale. As part of the current restructuring, the polyolefin business, with a turnover of around EUR 100 million and around 150 employees, is to be transferred to the C4 chemicals division – and is therefore also for sale.