Süd-Chemie subsidiary Phostech continues its operations with battery material LFP despite negative judgement of the Canadian Federal court of appeal

Despite a decision delivered on August 17th 2011 by the Canadian Federal Court of Appeal that a process used by Süd-Chemie’ Canadian subsidiary Phostech Lithium at its plant of St-Bruno, Canada, violated a patent of Valence Technology Inc. there is no significant impact on the business of Phostech Lithium.

As already released on July 27th 2011, Phostech is about to finalize the production capacity expansion in St-Bruno for its new advanced grade LFP (lithium iron phosphate), an innovative battery material for use in lithium ion batteries for stationary applications and the automotive industry. This new grade LFP with significantly improved performance is not affected by the decision of the Federal Court of Appeal.

“The decision of the Federal Court of Appeal is certainly disappointing, but as our P1 grade was scheduled for replacement by our new advanced grade anyway, we don’t expect a significant impact on our business,” declared Christian Knobloch, General Manager of Phostech Lithium.

In addition, Phostech’s 2,500 tonnes-per-year LIFE Power® P2 grade factory in Candiac, Canada, will start series production in January 2012. The production process of P2 at Candiac is not subject to the procedures that led to the judgment of the Federal Court.

Based in St-Bruno, Canada, Phostech Lithium, a subsidiary of Süd-Chemie AG, Munich, Grmany and part of the Swiss Clariant group, is a world leader in battery materials focusing primarily on research, development and manufacturing of lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO4, LFP) – an innovative cathode material with excellent performance and superior safety profile which is expected to contribute to the breakthrough of the new generation of lithium ion batteries for stationary application and the automotive industry.

 

Süd-Chemie AG´s Managing Board and Supervisory Board recommend acceptance of takeover bid from Clariant

The Managing Board and the Supervisory Board of Süd-Chemie AG, Munich, published their joint statement on the takeover offer made to Süd-Chemie AG shareholders by Clariant Verwaltungsgesellschaft mbH, Frankfurt am Main and on the offer document published on 17 May 2011.

Applying various valuation methods, the Managing Board and the Supervisory Board of Süd-Chemie AG have evaluated the compensation amounting to 126.38 euros per Süd-Chemie AG share offered by the bidder, giving due consideration to both corporate and market aspects. The Managing Board and Supervisory Board were advised by the WestLB AG bank in Düsseldorf which submitted a fairness opinion on the bid.

Based on the analyses carried out, both the Managing Board and the Supervisory Board reach the conclusion in their joint statement that from a financial point of view, the amount of 126.38 euros per share offered by the bidder, represents reasonable compensation. Furthermore, they are of the opinion that in view of the additional promising development potential for Süd-Chemie´s business activities, the company´s integration into the Clariant Group is in the best interests of both Süd-Chemie and its stakeholders. In particular, the Managing Board and Supervisory Board support the intention of the bidder not to change Süd-Chemie´s business activities and to retain its areas of operation. The Managing Board and the Supervisory Board recommend that Süd-Chemie AG shareholders accept the takeover offer.

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