Evonik Owners Take Aim at Floating Chemicals Firm Again

The owners of Evonik are reviving plans to take the German chemical company public, and have placed a stake of less than 10% with institutional investors as a first step.

The RAG Foundation, which owns 75% of Evonik, and buyout firm CVC Capital Partners, which holds the rest, said in a joint statement on Friday they had sold an equal amount of shares in the placing.

The price per share was in line with the market valuation of European peers and was considerably above the price indications of their aborted attempt at an initial public offering (IPO) last year, they said, declining to be more specific.

Late on Thursday, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters the owners value Evonik at €14 billion ($19 billion).

"Evonik Industries is resuming its preparations for its planned listing in the Prime Standard of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. The move is prompted by the improved capital market environment," they said.

In June last year RAG and CVC scrapped plans for an IPO of 30% of the shares.

Since then, European stock markets have seen a turn for the better amid tentative signs the euro zone's debt crisis is easing. The FTSEurofirst 300 has gained about 17% since Evonik's latest IPO attempt.

Two people familiar with the owners' thinking told Reuters late on Thursday that Evonik's owners were preparing to float 10% of their shares by the end of April.

Evonik makes battery chemicals, animal feed additives, acrylic glass and super-absorbents for diapers, competing with BASF and DuPont, among others.