Friday, May 13, 2011

süd-chemie, died after 154 years of success :-(

süd-chemie, last AGM ever :o(

headquarters in the centre of munich (source: bloomberg)

established 1857 in bavaria in order to produce the 1st artificial fertiliser, destroyed 2011 in order to make one big competitor even bigger (and to allow some other major shareholders an favorable 'exit'? well, maybe they didnt like to accept the decisions of the new controlling shareholder, who knows?)

lets move to companys website to look-up how the story begun:

1857
Four entrepreneurs came together to produce the first artificial phosphate fertiliser, superphosphate and make it available for agricultural use. On 19 November, they received a licence from the Bavarian king, Maximilian II to found the Bavarian Public Limited Company for Chemical and Agrochemical Products, known as BAG. This predecessor to Süd-Chemie was created by federal councillor Baron Julius von Niethammer, Joseph von Hirsch, banker at the royal court, Professor of Agriculture Carl Nikolaus Fraas and chemist Wilhelm Mayer. One of the founding shareholders and initiators was Justus von Liebig, the father of modern fertilisation theory.

... few years in between ...

2011
the disaster ... one of the the worlds leading absorbents + catalysts producers loses its independence! a steady growing and steady profitable company was taken-over by the swiss competitor Clariant International Ltd. well, clariant holds 96% of all shares, the squeeze-out offer is expected within the next 2 weeks, hmmmmm, will the take-over price for the remaining small shareholders like me be fair? you dont know what does absorbents + catalysts mean? dont worry, neither do i ... well, let the companys officials explain that chemical stuff to you ... and enjoy many munich scenes in that old company video:


well, sued-chemie was not only abt tradition! they are building the worlds biggest lithium battery factory in canada (start of production in 2012) and a biofuel facility in bavaria which makes fuel  from straw, which means there is no food used for fuel ... great, isnt it?

#1
#2

good-bye, sued-chemie ...

No comments: