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World War II and involvement in the Holocaust
During World War II, one of Degussa's subsidiaries, Degesch , was the main manufacturer and distributor of the chemical Zyklon B, which was used to murder people in gas chambers of German extermination and concentration camps during the Holocaust. Furthermore, gold dental fillings, which had been forcefully removed from the mouths of concentration-camp inmates, had been processed by Degussa. The company's partnership Deutsche Gasrusswerke employed Jewish slave laborers at Gleiwitz concentration camp, a subcamp of Auschwitz. Degussa estimated its war losses at 111 million Reichsmarks, almost USD$0.5 billion in 2012 dollars.In 1998, Degussa requested the American historian Peter Hayes to clarify the company history during the Third Reich.While constructing the Holocaust Memorial in Berlin, it became public that the plasticizer and the anti-graffiti coating of the memorial were produced by Degussa, resulting in a pause of the construction works until the matter is clarified. In November 2003 the memorial's trustees decided to finish the building with the involvement of Degussa.
After World War II
In 2006, RAG acquired Degussa AG, which was later renamed Evonik-Degussa GmbH.
Historically, Evonik Industries' businesses were part of RAG activities. The idea of splitting the company was put forward in 2005. The background of this idea was that RAG's core business of coal mining is carried out under government contract in Germany, while businesses transferred to Evonik compete in international markets. This structure did not permit the payment of dividends to the shareholders, which limited shareholders' readiness to inject equity into the RAG, which thereby restricted the company's ability to access fresh capital. As the first step, RAG's shareholders sold their shares to RAG foundation to split RAG.
The Foundation was established on 10 July 2007, and Evonik Industries was created on 12 September 2007.
The original plan foresaw the IPO of Evonik Industries in the first half of 2008. However, this plan was postponed until mid-2010 at the earliest, and the RAG Foundation started to look for strategic investors, while still holding on to the plans for a midterm IPO. In June 2008, the private equity firm CVC Capital Partners bought a stake of 25.01% in the company. Among many other private equity investors who bid for the stake , Russian Gazprom was reported to have considered buying a stake in Evonik Industries. The IPO, by now planned for fall of 2011, was once again postponed in September 2011, this time citing the "current state of financial and capital markets and their prospects."
RAG Foundation had planned for Evonik's IPO to take place in 2012, but this was postponed as a result of poor market conditions. Evonik shares have been traded on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange since 25 April 2013. Prior to the IPO the company had given institutional investors the opportunity to acquire around 14% of the shares for €2 billion.Since 5 March 2015, the shareholding structure of the Evonik Industries AG is composed as follows:
67,9%: RAG Foundation
14,0%: Gabriel Acquisitions GmbH
18,1%: Free float
2012 cyclododecatriene plant fire
In March 2012, a fire at the Degussa plant in Marl, stopped production of cyclododecatriene for a duration of several months. The plant produced a substantial proportion of the world's production of CDT, particularly that needed to produce laurolactam, a precursor to the polyamide PA12. This shortage in turn led to concerns for global production of finished goods, particularly in the automotive industry. Biobased polyamides, not dependent on laurolactam or CDT, have been put forward as alternative materials.
