The
specialty chemicals company
Degussa AG, Dusseldorf, and the pharmaceuticals manufacturer HEXAL AG, Holzkirchen near Munich, announce the signing of the contract of sale for the Degussa Radebeul/Dresden site. The purchase price was not disclosed. The plant in Radebeul will begin production for HEXAL on July 1, 2004 - subject to the approval of the German Federal Cartel Office - and thereupon operate as an independent subsidiary under the company name HEXAL Synthese GmbH.
HEXAL is providing a guarantee of employment for 177 jobs for a period of five years, retaining the 31 existing apprenticeships as well. It will maintain the apprenticeship intake at an unchanged nine per year for at least three years.
The Management Board Chairman of Degussa, Prof. Utz-Hellmuth Felcht, comments: "I am pleased that in HEXAL we have found an owner who will continue to run the site. The future of the training establishment has also been secured, with
RAG BILDUNG as the new management. Moreover, at the end of last year we negotiated a balance of interests agreement and a transfer social plan. As a result we have produced a socially responsible
solution, and made an important contribution to securing the future of the site and the region."
The acquisition gives HEXAL in
Germany its own chemicals
synthesis facility, thereby creating the platform for developing its own active substances, which is particularly important as well for developing new technologies.
"We are continuing to focus on Germany as a location for production. The site in Radebeul fulfils all the requirements we have of a modern chemicals synthesis facility", noted Dr. Thomas Strüngmann, founder and director of HEXAL AG, "hence we were able to quickly decide in favor of this additional production site in the new federal states of Germany.
We are certain that with the know-how of the employees at the site we will be able to establish an efficient and profitable production unit within a very short period of time. We have every confidence in the men and women here in Radebeul, which is why we were also happy to state our willingness to offer the guarantee of employment and apprentice places".