Deb Group Acquires the Stoko skincare business from Evonik

Deb Group Ltd (‘Deb’), one of the world’s leading occupational skincare providers, today announces that it has reached an agreement with Evonik Industries to acquire the Stoko Professional Skin Care business.

• Historic and significant investment in the away from the home skincare sector.
• Stoko has for over 70 years sought to combat skin disease in the workplace and has unparalleled expertise and knowledge in this field, supported by world class skincare products.
• The businesses have highly complementary customers, product and geographic coverage.
• The addition of Stoko will allow Deb to accelerate a key element of its commercial strategy, to become a global leader in the prevention of occupational skin disease.

Bryan Anderson, CEO of Deb said “It has been a longstanding ambition of Deb’s to join forces with Stoko.   We want to create the world’s most comprehensive and effective skincare product range for the workplace drawing on the significant innovation portfolio within both companies. This, in concert with vital information provided by Deb’s unique compliance monitoring technology, will fundamentally alter and improve standards of skincare behaviour.”

Patrik Wohlhauser, a member of the Evonik Executive Board, said “Evonik continues to direct its portfolio toward high-margin specialty chemicals businesses. While Stoko Professional Skin Care enjoys an excellent reputation on the market, its business model differs from that of Evonik today. As such, we have decided on a buyer that can best realize the growth potential of the business, we believe that Deb will be a good home for Stoko and its people”

The transaction is subject to regulatory and Evonik’s Supervisory Board approvals and clearances and is expected to complete within the next few months.

For further information, please contact:

Deb Group      
Sarah Hilyer       
Tel: +44 (0) 7807 613843    
Email: sarah.hilyer@debgroup.com

Evonik Industries AG
Alexandra Boy
Tel: + 49 201 1773167
Email: Alexandra.boy@evonik.com

Notes to Editors

About Deb Group

For over 70 years, the Deb Group has been establishing skin care regimes for all types of workplace and public environments, spanning industrial, commercial, healthcare and food sectors.

With its Global Headquarters in Denby, Derbyshire, Deb comprises 21 companies operating in 16 countries, with Deb products sold in over 100 countries.  An estimated 40 million people use Deb’s products every day.

Drawing on deep technical expertise and extensive field sales support, Deb provides employers with innovative skin care programmes that maximise employee participation through carefully devised, reliable skin care systems, supported by quality products that are both pleasant-to-use and cost effective.

About Evonik

Evonik, the creative industrial group from Germany, is one of the world leaders  in specialty chemicals. Profitable growth and a sustained increase in the value of the company form the heart of Evonik’s corporate strategy. Its activities focus on the key megatrends health, nutrition, resource efficiency and globalization. Evonik benefits specifically from its innovative prowess and integrated technology platforms.

Evonik is active in over 100 countries around the world. In fiscal 2013 more than 33,500 employees generated sales of around €12.9 billion and an operating profit (adjusted EBITDA) of about €2.0 billion.