Toray Industries, Inc. (headquarters: Chuo-ku, Tokyo; President: Akihiro Nikkaku; hereinafter referred to as "Toray") announced today that it purchased 100% of the shares in SolviCore GmbH & Co. KG (located in Hanau-Wolfgang, Germany; Representative: Holger Dziallas; hereinafter referred to as "SolviCore") from Umicore S.A. (hereinafter referred to as "Umicore") and Solvay S.A. (hereinafter referred to as “Solvay”), which held a 50% stake each in SolviCore. SolviCore was turned into a wholly owned subsidiary effective July 1 and will continue its operations as a German company located in Hanau in the Rhine-Main- Area.
SolviCore was established in July 2006, by Umicore and Solvay with 50% investment each, for developing, manufacturing and distributing catalyst coated membrane (hereinafter referred to as "CCM"), and membrane electrode assembly (MEA).
CCM and MEA owned by SolviCore are important parts that form the core of fuel cells and water electrolyzers and are indispensable products for realizing the coming hydrogen society. By acquiring SolviCore Toray aims to expand the business in the said field by generating synergy in the fuel cell and related fields by leveraging the two companies’ products and technological capabilities.
In the Green Innovation Business Expansion (GR) Project, which is one of the group-wide project under the medium-term management program Project AP-G 2016, Toray aims to support the Toray Group’s sustainable growth by making contributions to the society through offering of solutions to global environmental issues and resource and energy problems.
The acquisition and launch of the new company this time is very much a part of the GR Project and Toray intends to continue aiming for a sustainable, low-carbon, recycling society by contributing to the development of hydrogen production (electrolysis), hydrogen infrastructure (compression and storage), and hydrogen utilization (fuel cells) technologies through promotion of SolviCore’s business.
