Wacker Adds Silicones, Considers IPO

Wacker has set up a joint venture with the Chinese textile specialties manufacturer Dymatic Chemicals to make and market silicone products used in the Chinese textile, leather, and fiber industries. The venture, Wacker Dymatic Shunde, is scheduled to start up by year's end in Shunde, in Guangdong province near Hong Kong. Meanwhile, Wacker wants to convert into a joint stock company by the end of the year as part of an effort to ease financing. In an e-mail to employees, CEO Peter-Alexander Wacker said this move could open the door to an initial public offering of stock in the family-owned company. In August, the family bought out the 44% stake held in the firm by Sanofi-Aventis.