Divestitures

WACKER did not divest any business fields or product business in 2014.

Changes in Our Joint Ventures and Associates

Siltronic took over a majority stake in its Siltronic Samsung Wafer Pte. Ltd. joint venture in Singapore. Siltronic subscribed for new shares as part of a capital increase. As a result, Siltronic’s stake rose to 78 percent, while Samsung’s dropped to 22 percent. The transaction impacted the WACKER Group’s net financial debt by some € 150 million and the company was included in WACKER’s consolidated financial statements effective January 1, 2014. Due to the acquisition of this majority stake, the company was renamed Siltronic Silicon Wafer Pte. Ltd.

Investments

Capital expenditures rose over 10 percent year on year. In 2014, they totaled € 572.2 million (2013: € 503.7 million).

WACKER’s investing activities remained centered on the construction of the new polysilicon site at Charleston, Tennessee (USA). About € 310 million – somewhat more than half of all 2014 investments – went toward this project. Construction continued there as planned throughout 2014 and is scheduled for completion in the second half of 2015.

To support market growth in our chemical business, we invested in the expansion of production capacities for dispersible polymer powders and silicones at our Burghausen site. Here, we are not only building a new dispersible polymer powders plant with an annual capacity of 50,000 metric tons, but are also expanding a plant for modified siloxanes. Products from this plant are used in a wide variety of end products, such as silicone fluids, emulsions and resins. At our Calvert City site, the existing production facilities are being extended by a new dispersions reactor with an annual capacity of 85,000 metric tons.