Date:
03 June, 2008
Company:
CVC Capital Partners
Title:
CVC acquires 25.01 percent in Evonik Industries AG from RAG Foundation

CVC acquires 25.01 percent in Evonik Industries AG from RAG Foundation

Essen, 3 June 2008. Funds advised by CVC Capital Partners (“CVC”) have agreed to acquire a 25.01 percent stake in Evonik Industries AG from the RAG Foundation for a purchase price of approximately 2.4 billion Euros announced Wilhelm Bonse-Geuking, CEO of the RAG Foundation. The transaction is subject to antitrust approval.

IPO planned Through the sale of a minority stake in the business, the RAG Foundation has taken the first step in its mandate to establish a capital reserve to finance the perpetual burdens of the German coal-mining industry. Both partners plan to launch an IPO in the medium term; the Foundation has been Evonik’s sole shareholder to date.

An experienced investor The CEO of the RAG Foundation, Wilhelm Bonse-Geuking, commented: “There were several arguments in favour of CVC as a purchaser: CVC has extensive industry experience in the chemical and energy sectors coupled with a highly experienced team in Germany. We share a common view with regard to the development potential in Evonik Industries and CVC has a strong track record in the management of IPOs across a number of its portfolio companies.”

Partner to the RAG Foundation and Evonik’s Managment Steve Koltes, Managing Partner of CVC Capital Partners, added: “Evonik is an outstanding company with enormous potential for the future. We are proud that our investment will contribute toward establishing a new DAX company in the medium term.” Koltes continued: “We are delighted to support the RAG Foundation and Evonik’s Management in the company’s future development and continued profitable growth.”

The RAG Foundation was advised by Deutsche Bank, Morgan Stanley and Lilja & Co. Merrill Lynch and Rothschild acted as financial advisers to CVC. Acquisition financing will be provided by Bank of Ireland, Calyon, LBBW, Helaba (Hessische Landesbank), Lloyds TSB, Mediobanca, Raiffeisen-Zentralbank and WestLB.

Joint press conference On the occasion of this investment, the RAG Foundation and CVC Capital Partners invite to a joint press conference.

Date: Wednesday, June 4, 2008 Time: 11:00h Venue: RAG-Stiftung Rüttenscheider Str. 1-3 45128 Essen

About CVC CVC Capital Partners is a leading global private equity and investment advisory firm founded in 1981, with a network of 18 Offices and 177 employees throughout Europe, Asia and the United States. CVC is currently investing from CVC Fund IV, CVC Asia II, CVC Tandem Fund and CVC Asia III with an aggregate of $19bn in equity capital. CVC has had an office in Frankfurt since 1986. CVC’s combined German portfolio of companies has 28,000 employees, generating more than 5 billion euros in sales revenues. These include the construction component supplier Dywidag Systems International, the Flint Group (printing inks), the Elster Group (manufacturer of utility meters) as well as the heat and water submetering specialist ista International.

Industry experience in the chemical and energy sectors: Flint Group (printing inks, pigments, printing plates; Germany/USA), Acordis (industrial and textile fibers; Germany/Netherlands), Taminco (amino-acids; Belgium), Univar (chemicals distribution; U.S./Netherlands), Adisseo (animal feed additives; France), Provimi (animal feed; Netherlands), Brunner Mond (soda ash and associated chemicals; UK), Victrex (PEEKTM polymers; UK); Inalta (electricity grids; Spain), the Elster Group (measuring devices e.g. for the electrical engineering industry; Germany), ista International (specialists in the field of metering; Germany).

Experience with minority holdings in state-owned enterprises: Among others, the Danish Post Office (22%), the Belgian Post Office (25%), and Wavin (50%)

Experience with IPOs: Smurfit Kappa (2007), Wavin (2006), Debenhams (2006), Polimoon (2005), IG Index (2005), Haitai Confectionary (2004), CJ CGV (2004), Yellow Pages Singapore (2004), Halfords (2004), Pacific Brands (2004), Punch Taverns (2002), William Hill (2002)

Further particulars available from www.cvc.com.

Dr. Phoebe Kebbel Hering Schuppener Consulting GmbH Tel.: +49-(0)69-921874-77 Mobile: +49-(0)173-2862110 E-Mail:

About the RAG Foundation The RAG Foundation was established in June 2007 and was recognized as such by the district government of Düsseldorf on July 10, 2007. On the one hand, its mandate is to arrange access by the industrial conglomerate Evonik Industries AG (comprising the fields of chemicals, energy and real estate) to the capital market and, in doing so, to facilitate its further successful development; on the other, it is responsible for controlling the socially compatible adjustment process in the German coal mining industry until the year 2018 and to finance the burdens in perpetuity.

Further particulars available from www.rag-stiftung.de.

Klaus-Henning Groth Head of Communications and the Management Board Office Tel. +49 (0) 201 801 3366 Mobile +49 (0) 172 449 3366

About Evonik Evonik Industries is the creative industrial group from Germany which operates in three business areas: Chemicals, Energy and Real Estate. Evonik is a global leader in specialty chemicals, an expert in power generation from hard coal and renewable energies, and one of the largest private residential real estate companies in Germany. Our strengths are creativity, specialization, continuous self-renewal, and reliability. Evonik is active in over 100 countries around the world. In its fiscal year 2007 about 43,000 employees generated sales of about €14.4 billion and an operating profit (EBIT) of more than €1.3 billion.

For further Informationen please visit www.evonik.de.

Barbara Müller Head of Corporate Press Tel.: +49-(0)201-177-3423 Tel.: +49 (0)201-177-3423 Mobil: +49 (0)172 2389605 E-Mail: barbara.mueller@evonik.com