(AGENPARL) - Roma, 13 Marzo 2024 - (AGENPARL) – mer 13 marzo 2024 Germany: EIB commits €500 million loan to back research and development at Evonik
PRESS RELEASE
2024-105-EN
Luxembourg/Essen, 12 March 2024
EIB commits €500 million loan to back research and development at Evonik
* Germany’s second largest chemical company focuses on energy-efficient, bio-based and circular solutions.
* EIB financing will accelerate the sustainable transformation of Evonik.
The European Investment Bank (EIB) is providing a framework loan of €500 million to Evonik, the second largest chemical company in Germany and one of the largest worldwide. The loan will be used to finance European research and development activities at the company, which firmly integrated sustainability into all elements of its corporate strategy in 2022.
The loan will support Next Generation Solutions, the company’s portfolio of particularly sustainable products. This portfolio currently makes up 43% of the overall revenue of Evonik, with a target of more than 50% by 2030. Next Generation Solutions include biosurfactants from Slovakia, lipid nanoparticles from Germany and membranes for gas filtration from Austria, among other products. Europe is the company’s key location for the majority of its research and development.
Research and development also helps to reduce the company’s footprint by reducing both direct and indirect greenhouse gas emissions from production processes. The company’s climate targets are in line with the Paris Agreement on climate change, which aims to limit global warming to well below 2º Celsius. They were certified by the Science Based Targets initiative, a corporate climate action organisation. In addition, Evonik is striving to revalidate its climate targets in the near future in order to align with a path that limits warming to 1.5º C by 2050.
The EIB loan comes with a term of six years from the date of utilisation. The EU bank will thereby complement the existing funding portfolio of Evonik with a long-term financing instrument that offers attractive conditions relative to the current market.
EIB Vice-President Nicola Beer, who oversees financing in Germany, said: “EIB financing focuses on enabling our clients to develop their own solutions to achieve climate action, circularity and biodiversity goals. We are glad to support Evonik on this path, accelerating the implementation of the company’s ambitious transformation programme.”
“Every day we are working on more energy-efficient, durable, bio-based and circular solutions. The financing from the EIB is a valuable recognition of our contribution to the sustainable development of Evonik and our customers,” added Chief Financial Officer of Evonik Maike Schuh.
Background information
The European Investment Bank (ElB) is the long-term lending institution of the European Union, owned by its Member States. It finances sound investments that contribute to EU policy objectives. EIB projects bolster competitiveness, drive innovation, promote sustainable development, enhance social and territorial cohesion, and support a just and swift transition to climate neutrality. The EIB Group, which also includes the European Investment Fund (EIF), signed a total of €88 billion in new financing for over 900 projects in 2023. These commitments are expected to mobilise around €320 billion in investment, supporting 400 000 companies and 5.4 million jobs.
Evonik
Evonik is a world leader in specialty chemicals. The company is active in more than 100 countries around the world and generated sales of €15 billion and an operating profit (adjusted EBITDA) of €1.66 billion in 2023. Evonik goes far beyond chemistry to create innovative, profitable and sustainable solutions for customers. About 33 000 employees work together for a common purpose: We want to improve life today and tomorrow.
For details of the climate target validation, see the SBTi’s target dashboard: https://sciencebasedtargets.org/target-dashboard
Press contacts
Evonik
——————————————————————–
Les informations contenues dans ce message et/ou ses annexes sont
reservees a l’attention et a l’utilisation de leur destinataire et peuvent etre
confidentielles. Si vous n’etes pas destinataire de ce message, vous etes
informes que vous l’avez recu par erreur et que toute utilisation en est
interdite. Dans ce cas, vous etes pries de le detruire et d’en informer la
Banque Europeenne d’Investissement.