SGL Carbon SE is acquiring the shares from Japanese graphite and carbon specialist Tokai Carbon Co. Ltd. in the SGL Tokai Process Technology (STPT) joint venture operating on the Asian market. The signing of the contract took place last week. The closing of the contract will mark the date on which Tokai Carbon Co. Ltd.’s 49 percent share in the joint venture will be transferred to SGL Carbon SE. It was agreed to keep the purchase price confidential.
Burkhard Straube, Head of Graphite Materials & Systems (GMS), says, “By acquiring these shares from Tokai Carbon we are reducing the complexity of our global organizational structure, and at the same time obtaining more freedom for our Process Technology business on the Asian market. In the industrial applications and chemicals divisions, we are already seeing good opportunities for growth through the increased industrialization in various Asian markets.”
The three sites Shanghai (China), Yamanashi (Japan) and Kyung Ki-Do (South Korea) are being used to manufacture products and services in the Process Technology (PT) division, including skid mounted systems, process solutions, application technology, equipment and services, as well as products in the area fluid handling. Examples of specific products are graphite heat exchangers, distillation equipment for the energy and chemical industry or PTFE products and pumps. With this acquisition of the shares from the current joint venture partner, the company will be fully integrated into the structures of the GMS business unit and will from now on operate under the name of SGL Group.