25.01% stake in Evonik divested

On June 3, 2008 RAG-Stiftung (RAG Foundation) — previously Evonik’s sole owner — signed a contract selling a 25.01% stake in Evonik Industries AG to the financial investor CVC for around €2.4 billion. The transaction is contingent upon the approval of the antitrust authorities and is expected to be closed in the third quarter of 2008.

The investment by CVC Capital Partners is for a minimum of three years and highlights Evonik's attractiveness. In common with RAG-Stiftung, we are convinced that our new partner will help us speed up Evonik’s profitable growth momentum. Our goal is to double the equity value of the company in the next five years.

RAG-Stiftung aims to retain a minority stake of over 25% in Evonik in the long term blocking. It will be using the proceeds of the transaction to build up a capital stock to finance the “perpetual costs” of the withdrawal from hard-coal mining in Germany by 2018. These “ perpetual costs” comprise ongoing liabilities, for example, the cost of regulating groundwater levels.

15 September 2008