MOSCOW (MRC) -- Covestro has successfully closed the sale of its European polycarbonates (PC) sheets business to the Munich-based Serafin Group effective January 2, 2020. This includes key management and sales functions throughout Europe as well as production sites in Belgium and Italy, reported MarketSreener.
The segment generated total sales of EUR 130 million in 2018. Serafin will continue operations with the 250 employees at all locations. Moreover, Covestro will continue to serve as key raw materials supplier in the foreseeable future.
With the sale of its European polycarbonates sheets business, Covestro is pursuing its ongoing portfolio optimization. The divestment follows transactions that were already concluded in North America and India, as well as the conversion of the Guangzhou (China) site into production of speciality films. Thus, Covestro has completely sold its polycarbonates sheets business.
From now on, the former polycarbonate sheets business of Covestro will operate under the new company name Exolon Group. Within Serafin Group, Exolon Group will be established as an independent, mid-sized company. With its own dedicated strategy based on the needs of its customers, the company will be able to fully exploit its growth potential in the future. As an independent company, Exolon Group will continue to focus on the production and distribution of high-quality solid and multiwall sheets, which are used in a variety of industries and applications, such as in the construction- and lightning industries as well as in the fields of mechanical engineering and mobility.
Covestro and Serafin have agreed not to disclose the financial details of the transaction.
As MRC wrote before, in May 2018, Bayer Group sold 28.81 million shares representing a 14.2 percent interest in Covestro at a price of 75.50 euros per share. The proceeds of this sale totaled 2.2 billion euros. Bayer AG now holds just 6.8 percent of Covestro shares to repay the exchangeable bond that matures in 2020. Bayer AG acquired these shares from Bayer Pension Trust, which now no longer holds any Covestro shares.
We also remind that on 1 September, 2015, Bayer MaterialScience became known as Covestro. The plans for the carve-out of Bayer MaterialScience were announced in September 2014.
According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated consumption of PC granules (excluding imports and exports to\\from Belarus) fell in January-November 2019 by 14% year on year to 70,700 tonnes (62,000 tonnes a year earlier).
Covestro (formerly Bayer MaterialScience) is an independent subgroup within Bayer. It was created as part of the restructuring of Bayer AG from the former business group Bayer Polymers, with certain of its activities being spun off to Lanxess AG. Covestro manufactures and develops materials such as coatings, adhesives and sealants, polycarbonates (CDs, DVDs), polyurethanes (automotive seating, insulation for refrigerating appliances) etc. With 2018 sales of EUR 14.6 billion, Covestro has 30 production sites worldwide and employs approximately 16,800 people (calculated as full-time equivalents) at the end of 2018.
Serafin is a diversified industrial group whose philosophy is based on more than 150 years of entrepreneurial tradition of its shareholding family. Serafin invests into companies with the aim to foster their long-term development in accordance with all stakeholders. Following the successful acquisition of Exolon Group, Serafin Group companies will generate total revenues of more than EUR 900 million with 5,000 employees.
MRC