Key Events Affecting Business Performance
Acquisitions and Investments
WACKER bolstered its silicone business in China in 2022 and acquired a 60-percent stake in specialty silane manufacturer SICO Performance Material (Shandong) Co., Ltd. Organofunctional silanes are important ingredients in high-performance adhesives and sealants, as well as in coatings and composites. The transaction was completed in early May 2022 after the necessary regulatory and antitrust approvals were granted. WACKER paid around €170 million to cover the purchase price and a proportionate share of the company’s working capital.
Divestitures
The Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action did not issue the foreign trade clearance required for the merger of Siltronic AG with GlobalWafers Co., Ltd. by the deadline for the close of the transaction on January 31, 2022. As a result, the planned merger did not materialize. Consequently, the irrevocable undertaking signed by WACKER and GlobalWafers was void. Under this agreement, WACKER had undertaken to sell its 30.83-percent stake in Siltronic to GlobalWafers. As a result, WACKER no longer recognized this investment as assets held for sale, but once again as an equity-accounted investment.
Capital Expenditures
As planned, capital expenditures increased markedly year over year, coming in at €546.8 million (2021: €343.8 million). Spending was focused on expanding capacity at all four business divisions and included increasing liquid silicone rubber capacity at our sites in Burghausen (Germany) and Adrian, Michigan (USA). In India, facilities for high-temperature vulcanizing solid silicone rubber came on stream at the new Panagarh site. We are expanding our capacities in Nanjing, China, with a new reactor for dispersions and a spray dryer for dispersible polymer powders. We are transforming our site in Halle (Germany) into a competence center for mRNA actives, while a new biotech research facility is being built at our Corporate R&D Center in Munich (Germany). At our fully integrated sites of Burghausen and Nünchritz in Germany, we also invested in several projects for intermediates used in the manufacture of specialty silicones, as well as in facilities to produce hyperpure polysilicon.
