FRANKFURT (Reuters) – German chemicals maker Evonik is close to finalising the sale of its superabsorbents business, which makes materials for diapers and hygiene products, Chief Financial Officer Maike Schuh told German newspaper Boersen-Zeitung.
“Now we’re looking at the contract negotiations,” she said, adding that the process could take a while. “But we’re on the home stretch.”
The superabsorbents division recently made annual sales of around 900 million euros ($968 million).
Evonik is also planning to sell its larger C4 division, which last made annual sales of around 2 billion euros and core profit of around 200 million euros, though Schuh said that process has not started and a sale would not happen this year.
“Selling C4 in the current economically difficult environment would very likely not result in the desired sales proceeds,” she said.
($1 = 0.9293 euros)
(Reporting by Christoph Steitz; Editing by Mike Harrison)
