Acordis set to face the world on its own two feet (1998)

Akzo Nobel is to split off its fibres business, Acordis, in the second half of 1999. Created as a result of Akzo Nobel's takeover of Courtaulds earlier this year, Acordis has sales of around Dfl6bn ($12bn), and will operate as a separate business under Akzo Nobel from 1 January 1999. It will be the world's largest dedicated fibres production company.

On demerging, Akzo Nobel shareholders will be given Acordis shares, although details are not yet finalised.

Acordis employs around 19 000 people worldwide and will have its headquarters in Derby, UK. It will be registered in the Netherlands. Integration of the Courtaulds and Akzo Nobel fibres businesses is already under way. 'The Courtaulds and Akzo products are different, but do form a comprehensive range,' said Acordis. The main thrust of the integration is in aligning management and organisational styles.

Chairman of the supervisory board will be Gordon Campbell, former chief executive of Courtaulds. The day-to-day running of Acordis will be the responsibility of Folkert Blaisse, currently Akzo Nobel's director responsible for fibres. He will step down to concentrate on managing and developing Acordis. Meanwhile, the finance officer will be Patrick Shanley, formerly financial director of Courtaulds, and Peter Rogers of Courtaulds will be deputy chief executive of Acordis.

The group has production facilities in Germany, the Netherlands, the UK, the US, Brazil, Italy, Spain and Poland, where it makes synthetic fibres and speciality materials for industrial, textile, medical and hygiene applications.

14 December 1998 00:00 [Source: ICB]