Evonik Set For IPO … Again

Evonik Industries’ owners, the private equity firm CVC Capital Partners and Germany’s RAG Foundation, say they have privately sold less than 10% of Evonik’s shares to “select” institutional investors at an undisclosed price as a first step toward an initial public offering of stock. The company has attempted three public offerings since 2008, but it canceled all of them because of poor market conditions. The two owners of Evonik, which is Germany’s third-largest chemical firm after BASF and Bayer, have yet to set a timeline for the listing, planned for the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. But according to CVC partner Christian Wildmoser, “The private placement puts us in a more positive position toward achieving an intended stock exchange listing with less effort.” Before they withdrew the third public offering last June, the owners planned to sell a 25% stake in Evonik in the hopes of raising as much as $5.6 billion. RAG expects to use its share of the proceeds to pay costs related to the shutdown of its coal mines.