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[March 2009]
SKion Acquires Equity Stake Of Almost 8% in SGL Carbon SE
The Board of Management of SGL Carbon SE has been informed that SKion, the investment company of Mrs Susanne Klatten, has acquired an equity stake of 7.92% in SGL Carbon SE. This corresponds to a total of 5,124,000 shares.
According to their notification, SKion is interested in further purchases of additional SGL Carbon SE shares; this will however remain below the threshold of 25% of voting rights. SKion has built positions within this percentage scope through derivative capital market instruments.
Robert Koehler, CEO of SGL Group, said: “It has been our strategy for some time to obtain long term oriented shareholders due to the high volatility of equity markets. This has been achieved with Voith and LBBW. Against this background we welcome the new anchor investor SKion, which stands for value oriented and long term investments in leading technology and industrial companies.”
The SGL Group is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of carbon-based products. It has a comprehensive portfolio ranging from carbon and graphite products to carbon fibres and composites. SGL Group’s core competencies are its expertise in high-temperature technology as well as its applications and engineering know-how gained over many years. These competencies enable the company to make full use of its broad material base. SGL Group’s carbon-based materials combine several unique properties such as electrical and thermal conductivity, heat and corrosion resistance as well as high mechanical strength combined with low weight.
Due to the paradigm shift in the use of materials as a result of the worldwide shortage of energy and raw materials, there is a growing demand for SGL Group’s high performance materials and products from an increasing number of industries. Carbon and graphite products are used whenever other materials such as steel, aluminium, copper, plastics, wood etc. fail due to their limited properties. Products from the SGL Group are used predominantly in the steel, aluminium, automotive, chemical and the glass and ceramics industries.
However, manufacturers in the semiconductor, battery, solar/wind energy, environmental protection, aerospace and defence industries as well as in the nuclear energy industry also figure among the company’s customers.
With 40 production sites in Europe, North America and Asia as well as a service network covering more than 100 countries, the SGL Group is a company with a global presence. In 2007, the company’s workforce of around 5,900 generated sales of €1.4 billion. The company’s head office is located in Wiesbaden in Germany.
ENDS