ICIG is taking over the entire division with around 1,000 employees and superabsorber production facilities in Krefeld and Rheinmuenster, Germany, as well as two US locations in in Greensboro, North Carolina, and Garyville, Louisiana. The business also includes plants in Marl, Germany, for production of acrylic acid, the most important raw material for superabsorbents.

Superabsorbents are powdered polymers used as absorbent materials in diapers and other hygiene products. The business to be sold generated sales of €892 million in 2023, with adjusted EBITDA in the mid double-digit million euro range.

"In terms of its profile, the superabsorbents business no longer fits our character as a specialty chemicals company," said Evonik CEO Christian Kullmann. "We have sought and found a reliable investor for it. Our company is thus taking the second step in the divestment of our Performance Materials Division."

ICIG is a chemical investor based in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. With more than 6,200 employees, the group generates annual sales of over €4.6 billion. "We are delighted to be able to take over another business from Evonik," commented Achim Riemann, chairman of the supervisory board of ICIG. "With its high technological quality as a new platform within ICIG, the superabsorbents business will offer our Group new opportunities for further growth."

In April 2023, ICIG had already acquired the Luelsdorf, Germany site and associated businesses in Wesseling from Evonik. Like the superabsorbent business, the site previously belonged to the Performance Materials Division. Its third part are chemicals from the C4 chain, a business that is also up for sale.