November 19, 2001
Degussa Corp. and Engineered Carbons, Inc. (ECI) today announced the
signing of a letter of intent to set up a joint venture combining their North
American
Carbon Black businesses. The new 50:50 joint venture is scheduled
to begin operating on January 1, 2002, under the name of Degussa
Engineered Carbons, LP.
Equipped with a full range of furnace and thermal blacks from six U.S. plants
operated by Degussa and ECI, the joint venture will mainly be concentrating
on the rubber-processing industry and on
plastics, printing ink, lacquer and
paint applications. The Degussa Advanced Fillers &
pigments Business Unit
will be responsible for marketing and sales.
Along with its operations, Degussa brings significant know-how to the joint
venture as one of the world's leading producers of carbon blacks and as a
provider of a unique system of advanced filler materials for tires, consisting of
carbon blacks, precipitated silicas and silane coupling agents. Degussa also
holds a leading position in specialty pigment blacks designed for
coatings, inks
and plastics.
ECI holds an outstanding reputation as a US manufacturer of carbon blacks
and thus contributes significantly to the new joint venture. Ameripol Synpol
Corporation, the parent company of ECI, is a leading synthetic rubber producer
in the United States.
The new joint venture is being set up in Parsippany, New Jersey, the location
of Degussa Corporation, which manages Degussa's US activities.
Referring to the joint venture, Mahendra Parekh, Chairman und CEO of
Ameripol Synpol Corporation, comments: "The combination creates a strong
company well equipped to better serve a broad customer base with high
quality products and unmatched service."
Dr. Carl Voigt, Executive Vice President of Degussa, states: "This step not only
takes us forward to a leading position in North America but also enables us to
significantly increase our problem-solving potential to the benefit of our
customers."