Wiesbaden, June 12, 2007. SGL Group – The Carbon Company – has just received an upgrade from the rating agency Standard & Poor’s for its €200 million senior secured notes. The rating for the senior secured notes was raised by one notch from “BB+” to “BBB-”. This is the first time that SGL Group received an Investment Grade status for one of its financial instruments.
The rating of the SGL CARBON AG Corporate Family remains at “BB” with a stable outlook. These upgrades will favourably impact potential future financial undertakings of the SGL Group.
About SGL Group – The Carbon Company
The SGL Group is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of carbon-based products. It has a comprehensive portfolio ranging from carbon and graphite products to carbon fibers and composites. SGL Group’s core competencies are its expertise in high-temperature technology as well as its applications and engineering know-how gained over many years. These competencies enable the Company to make full use of its broad material base. SGL Group’s carbon-based materials combine several unique properties such as electrical and thermal conductivity, heat and corrosion resistance as well as high mechanical strength combined with low weight. Due to the paradigm shift in the use of materials as a result of the worldwide shortage of energy and raw materials, there is a growing demand for SGL Group’s high-performance materials and products from an increasing number of industries. Carbon and graphite products are used whenever other materials such as steel, aluminum, copper, plastics, wood etc. fail due to their limited properties. Products from the SGL Group are used predominantly in the steel, aluminum, automotive, chemical and glass/ceramics industries. However, manufacturers in the semiconductor, battery, solar/wind energy, environmental protection, aerospace and defense industries as well as in the nuclear energy industry also figure among the Company’s
customers.
With around 30 production sites in Europe, North America and Asia
as well as a service network covering more than 100 countries,
the SGL Group is a company with a global presence. In 2006, the
Company’s workforce of 5,250 generated sales of € 1.2 billion. The Company’s
head office is located in Wiesbaden/Germany.
Important note:
This press release contains statements on future developments that are based on currently available information and that involve risks and uncertainties that could lead to actual results deviating from these forward-looking statements. The statements on future developments are not to be understood as guarantees. The future developments and events are dependent on a number of factors, they include various risks and unanticipated circumstances and are based on assumptions that may not be correct. These risks and uncertainties include, for example, unforeseeable changes in political, economic and business conditions, particularly in the area of electrosteel production, the competitive situation, interest rate and currency developments, technological developments and other risks and unanticipated circumstances. We see other risks in price developments, unexpected developments relating to acquired and consolidated companies and in the ongoing cost optimization programs. SGL Group does not intend to update these forward-looking statements.
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