Clariant

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Clariant AG

logo
legal form Corporation
ISIN CH0012142631
founding 1995
Seat Pratteln , SwitzerlandSwitzerlandSwitzerland 
management
Number of employees 17,901 (2018)
sales CHF 6.623 billion
Branch Chemical industry
Website www.clariant.com

Historical company logo

The Clariant AG is a globally active Swiss Group of specialty chemicals , based in Muttenz . The company is listed on the Swiss stock exchange SIX Swiss Exchange listed .

history

Clariant emerged from the spin-off of the chemicals division of Sandoz through the IPO in 1995, a year before Ciba and Sandoz merged in the summer of 1996 to form Novartis . From 1995 to 2002, Rolf Schweizer headed the board of directors of the newly founded company. In 1997, Clariant bought the specialty chemicals business from Hoechst AG . In 2000, Clariant also took over the business of British BTP plc, a life science chemicals specialist, for £ 1.08 billion. At that time, Clariant had around 31,000 employees. The company got into a serious crisis in 2003: A tough cost-cutting and efficiency-enhancing program as well as a major downsizing were the result. In October 2006, Clariant took over the Masterbatches business unit from Ciba , the chemicals division of Novartis that has since been spun off again.

In the period from 2001 to 2006, Clariant parted with numerous business areas, such as polyvinyl alcohol and polyvinyl butyral , emulsions, cellulose ethers , electronic materials, monochloroacetic acid and pharmaceutical fine chemicals. The sales were part of a strategic realignment of the company to focus consistently on the core business of specialty chemicals.

Business areas were also sold in Germany. In October 2008 the company closed its last production facility in the Griesheim industrial park for economic reasons and withdrew from the Griesheim industrial park in September 2009 as a site operator.

In the wake of the economic crisis , Clariant announced in February 2009 that it would save a further 1,000 jobs.

In February 2011 the company announced its intention to acquire Süd-Chemie AG for a price of CHF 2.5 billion . The transaction has meanwhile been completed, Clariant now holds 96.15% of Süd-Chemie AG. On December 1, 2011, Clariant announced in a press release that the shares of the minority shareholders had been transferred to Clariant through a squeeze-out .

Two weeks after the officially completed integration of Süd-Chemie, the new company logo was published both internally and externally on July 16, 2012.

On October 1, 2013, Clariant announced that the Textile Chemicals, Paper Specialties and Emulsions business units would be sold to SK Capital . Since then they have been operating under the name Archroma .

On January 7, 2014, the Detergents & Intermediates division was sold to the International Chemical Investors Group ; it now operates as WeylChem .

At the end of 2016, Clariant took over the two American manufacturers of oil field chemicals Kel-Tech and X-Chem .

On May 22, 2017, Clariant and the US chemical company Huntsman Corporation announced the joint merger to form HuntsmanClariant, with legal headquarters in Pratteln and operational headquarters in The Woodlands north of Houston . HuntsmanClariant would have created the world's second largest specialty chemicals group after the German Evonik . The supporters of the merger included in particular the family shareholders of Süd-Chemie, who hold 13.9 percent of Clariant shares. At the end of October 2017, the merger talks were broken off after Clariant's major shareholder White Tale (a partnership between the hedge fund Corvex Management LP and the Standard Industries investment subsidiary 40 North) spoke out against the merger; White Tale had previously increased its stake in Clariant to 20 percent. In January 2018, White Tale sold its last 24.9% Clariant shares to Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC). SABIC operates a joint venture with the Swiss company and has held Clariant shares since 2016, increased them through the acquisition beyond the blocking minority threshold and is now the largest Clariant shareholder.

environment

In a fire at the Clariant plant in Gendorf in March 2012, up to 800 kilograms of fatty amine ( GENAMIN LA 302 D ) entered the Alz river . As a result, all fish (approx. Six tons of fish) died for 14 kilometers up to the mouth of the Inn .

Group structure

The company is represented on five continents with over 100 group companies and employs around 18,000 people. In 2018, Clariant achieved sales of around 6.62 billion Swiss francs, of which 35.1% in Europe, 26.4% in Asia-Pacific, 19.6% in North America, 11.7% in Latin America and 7.2% in Middle East and Africa. Ernesto Occhiello has been CEO since October 16, 2018. Up until September 22, 2008, the Clariant AG shares were listed in the Swiss Market Index (SMI). Clariant was then downgraded to the Swiss Market Index Mid (SMIM) in favor of Actelion , but remained in the Swiss Leader Index (SLI).

Clariant supplies the manufacturing industry (automotive, construction, electronics, cosmetics, plastics, crop protection, pharmaceuticals).

The group is divided into the 4 business areas Care Chemicals , Catalysis , Natural Resources and Plastics & Coatings , each with several business units and segments. The strongest business area in terms of sales in 2018 was Plastics & Coatings with a share of 40.8% of total sales, followed by Care Chemicals (25.1%), Natural Resources (21.0%) and Catalysis (13.0%).

New business areas

This business unit deals with the development of new products and services, such as biotechnology and bio-based chemicals, electronic materials and 3D printing

Additives

The business unit is divided into three business lines: flame retardants , polymer additives and waxes.
Flame retardants are offered for buildings, electrical systems, textiles and materials for vehicle construction. The polymer additives are used to improve the heat resistance as well as the light and weather fastness of plastics. The third business line, BL Wachse, produces waxes based on montan waxes, polymer oxidate waxes and licocenes.

Catalysts

The business unit manufactures process catalysts for the chemical and petrochemical industries as well as materials for batteries.

Functional Minerals

The business unit offers adsorbents for drying technology and water treatment as well as for use in the construction industry. Functional protective packaging for drugs is also offered.

Industrial & Consumer Specialties

The business unit manufactures products based on surfactants and polymers . Anionic and cationic surfactants are used in the detergent industry. Various polymers in this business unit are used to improve the properties of personal care and crop protection products as well as paints, varnishes and plastics. This business unit also produces the aircraft de-icing agent Safewing, which is supplied to over 100 airports in Europe. A well-known product of this business unit is Antifrogen ( monoethylene glycol ), which is used as a heat transfer medium and antifreeze in cooling and heating systems, thermal solar systems and heat pump systems.

Masterbatches

The business unit produces colorant and additive concentrates (so-called masterbatches ) according to customer specifications. The customer orders these products according to his own requirements (special color nuances) so that he can use them directly on his systems without any preparatory effort (weighing, mixing, etc.).

Oil & Mining Services

The business unit manufactures chemicals that support manufacturing processes in the construction, oil, gas, mining and chemical industries.

Pigments

The business unit produces organic pigments for paints , architectural paints and plastics . Pigments are also made for printing with inkjet and laser printers. The largest production facility for pigments is located in the Höchst Industrial Park : Plant Azo IV is the largest single production facility for azo pigments in Europe.

Main locations

The group headquarters are located in the Muttenz plant, formerly Schweizerhalle ( canton Basel-Landschaft ), Switzerland , where the predecessor company Sandoz had been producing since 1948.

The "Schweizerhalle" landfill is also located on the Clariant site in Schweizerhalle . It contains pollutants from the major fire on November 1, 1986 at Sandoz . Even today, more pollutants end up in the groundwater from this landfill than Sandoz and the authorities of the canton of Basel-Land agreed in 1989/90. However, the legal successor to Sandoz is not Clariant, but Novartis . This is therefore probably responsible for the "Schweizerhalle" landfill.

With 1,600 employees worldwide, the company's largest site is located in the Höchst industrial park in Frankfurt am Main , Germany. Clariant has more than 130 production sites in 33 countries.

literature

  • Anna Bálint: Clariant clareant. The beginnings of a specialty chemicals company. Campus Verlag, Frankfurt am Main / New York 2011, ISBN 978-3-593-39375-9 .

Web links

Commons : Clariant  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Clariant Worldwide Website: Executive Committee.Retrieved July 25, 2019.
  2. ↑ a b c Clariant Presentation 2019. (PDF) In: www.clariant.com. February 13, 2019, accessed February 20, 2019 .
  3. ^ Clariant History. Clariant, 2016, accessed May 16, 2016 .
  4. ^ Former Clariant boss Rolf Schweizer has passed away. In: www.nzz.ch. December 10, 2018, accessed December 10, 2018 .
  5. ↑ Clariant (Austria) GmbH: Specialty chemicals from Hoechst and Clariant now under one roof in Austria. Austria Press Agency , November 4, 1997, accessed on May 16, 2016 .
  6. ^ Clariant: Aktien-Plus after BTP takeover offer. Manager Magazin , January 24, 2000, accessed May 16, 2016 .
  7. ↑ Strong Switzerland: 50 years of SVLFC; Paint & varnish 04/1998; Page 43
  8. Jump up ↑ Clariant. swissinfo , February 25, 2003, accessed May 16, 2016 .
  9. ↑ Ciba sells masterbatch business to Clariant. CHEMIE TECHNIK, October 11, 2006, accessed on May 16, 2016 .
  10. ↑ Infraserv Höchst takes over Clariant site operations in Griesheim ( Memento of the original dated February 7, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.infraserv.com
  11. ↑ SpecialChem: Clariant Adjusts Structure to Economic Downturn and Commences Further Restructuring
  12. ↑ Clariant press release: Clariant AG plans to acquire Süd-Chemie AG (February 16, 2011)
  13. ↑ Clariant press release: Clariant closes Süd-Chemie acquisition  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 126 kB), April 21, 2011.@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.clariant.com  
  14. ↑ Clariant LTD: Squeeze-out of Süd-Chemie Minority Shareholders now effective ( Memento of the original from October 30, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 41 kB) @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.clariant.com
  15. ↑ Anna Wellberg: Mutabor gives Clariant a redesign. In: Page . November 19, 2012, accessed May 16, 2016 .
  16. ^ Clariant closes sale of Textile Chemicals, Paper Specialties and Emulsions businesses. (PDF; 19 kB) (No longer available online.) In: http://www.clariant.com . October 1, 2013, archived from the original on October 12, 2013 ; accessed on October 11, 2013 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.clariant.com
  17. ↑ Clariant completes the sale of its detergents & intermediates business ( memento of the original of July 22, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , January 7, 2014  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / newsroom.clariant.com
  18. ↑ Clariant strengthens its North American oilfield chemicals business with two acquisitions , September 14, 2016
  19. ↑ Clariant seeks salvation in fusion - that brings a lot of uncertainties. In: aargauerzeitung.ch . May 22, 2017. Retrieved May 22, 2017 .
  20. ↑ Sergio Aiolfi: opponents of Huntsman-Clariant arm. www.nzz.ch, September 20, 2017, accessed on October 28, 2017 .
  21. ↑ Dominik Feldges: Clariant has to start over. www.nzz.ch, October 27, 2017, accessed on October 28, 2017 .
  22. ^ Clariant, Huntsman call off billion dollar merger. www.manager-magazin.de, October 27, 2017, accessed on October 28, 2017 .
  23. ↑ https://www.presseportal.de/pm/128543/3849999
  24. ↑ Investigations in the industrial park in Gendorf are in full swing
  25. ↑ Karen Merkel: Change of boss at Clariant: Ernesto Occhiello takes over the helm. It comes from the new major shareholder Sabic, who is turning Clariant upside down. In: Handelszeitung. www.handelszeitung.ch, September 18, 2018, accessed on February 20, 2019 .
  26. ↑ Press release Clariant International Ltd: Clariant appoints Dr. Hariolf Kottmann as the new Chief Executive Officer , September 4, 2008
  27. ↑ Press release. (PDF) Clariant, February 13, 2019, accessed on February 20, 2019 (German).
  28. ↑ Handelszeitung: Clariant inundated with demand for deicing agent  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , December 10, 2010@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.handelszeitung.ch  
  29. ↑ Thomas J. Schmidt: Insights into a colorful world. (No longer available online.) Frankfurter Neue Presse , November 11, 2015, archived from the original on May 16, 2016 ; accessed on May 16, 2016 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.fnp.de
  30. ↑ Anna Bálint: Clariant clareant: The beginnings of a specialty chemicals company . Campus-Verlag , Frankfurt 2011, ISBN 978-3-593-39375-9 ( limited preview in the Google book search [accessed on May 16, 2016]).
  31. ↑ Martin Forter: Wrong game. The environmental sins of Basel chemistry before and after "Schweizerhalle". Chronos Verl., Zurich, 2010. ISBN 978-3-0340-1007-8