Clariant welcomes Sūd-Chemie employees to the team

Employee events at all German sites
Country manager Ulrich Ott: From today we are also legally a team

Frankfurt, July 2, 2012 - With events at all 18 German sites, Clariant is welcoming Süd-Chemie employees in Germany to the team. Dr. Ulrich Ott, country manager for Germany and head of the Europe region, greeted the new Clariant employees via video message: “Today's event is intended to symbolize the start of our journey towards a joint future in which the staff of Süd-Chemie form a strong team with their colleagues at Clariant and develop a common corporate culture,” said Ott.

Germany is the first country in which the integration of Süd-Chemie AG has been legally completed. Since July 1, 2012, employees in the service functions have belonged to Clariant SE, the European company that handles Clariant's service functions for all EU countries and Switzerland. From now on production, research and distribution staff are employed by Clariant Produkte (Deutschland) GmbH. Due to differences in regional conditions, the integration of all Süd-Chemie companies worldwide will be completed on a step-by-step basis by the end of 2013.

Clariant announced its intention to acquire Süd-Chemie in February 2011. The knowledge and experience within the two companies will enable Clariant to further expand its leading position in specialty chemicals. The new business units Catalysis & Energy and Functional Materials will open up strong growth prospects in leading future technologies.

As part of the acquisition, in February 2011 Clariant reached agreements with the majority shareholder One Equity Partners (50.4%) and the family shareholders (around 46%) to acquire a total of 96.15% of the outstanding shares. The total value of the transaction was EUR 2.0 billion (CHF 2.5 billion). In November 2011 a General Meeting held by Süd-Chemie AG, Munich, approved the transfer of all shares held by minority shareholders to the majority shareholder Clariant AG, Muttenz/Switzerland in exchange for reasonable cash compensation (known as a squeeze-out) amounting to EUR 125.26 per Süd-Chemie share. The squeeze-out became effective in November 2011.