Umicore and Solvay sell SolviCore joint venture to Toray

Brussels,  July 1, 2015 --- Umicore and Solvay today announced that they have sold their respective 50% stakes in joint venture SolviCore to Japanese chemical company Toray. 

Since its inception in 2006, SolviCore has built up a strong portfolio of clients for its membrane electrode assemblies used in fuel cells and proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolysis.  SolviCore will benefit from Toray's expertise in fuel cell materials and experience in mass production and will remain based in the Hanau-Wolfgang Industriepark near Frankfurt.

Both Solvay and Umicore will continue to be active in the fuel cell material market. Solvay will focus on its core competence in advanced materials that will enable key innovation in the fuel cell industry for mobility, stationary and other markets. Umicore will focus on its core competence in catalysis and continue to develop and commercialize electro-catalysts for the fuel cell industry.

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As an international chemical group, Solvay assists industries in finding and implementing ever more responsible and value-creating solutions. Solvay generates 90% of its net sales in activities where it is among the world's top three players. It serves many markets, varying from energy and the environment to automotive and aerospace or electricity and electronics, with one goal: to raise the performance of its clients and improve society's quality of life. The group is headquartered in Brussels, employs about 26,000 people in 52 countries and generated 10.2 billion euros in net sales in 2014. Solvay SA SOLB.BE) is listed on Euronext in Brussels and Paris (Bloomberg: SOLB.BB - Reuters: SOLBt.BR). Umicore is a global materials technology and recycling group. It focuses on application areas where its expertise in materials science, chemistry and metallurgy makes a real difference. Its activities are organised in three business groups: Catalysis, Energy & Surface Technologies and Recycling. Each business group is divided into market-focused business units offering materials and solutions that are at the cutting edge of new technological developments and essential to everyday life. Umicore generates the majority of its revenues and dedicates most of its R&D efforts to clean technologies, such as emission control catalysts, materials for rechargeable batteries and recycling. Umicore's overriding goal of sustainable value creation is based on an ambition to develop, produce and recycle materials in a way that fulfils its mission: materials for a better life. The Umicore Group has industrial operations on all continents and serves a global customer base; it generated a turnover of € 8.8 billion (€ 2.4 billion excluding metal) in 2014 and currently employs just over 14,000 people.

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