Umicore celebrates its 10 year anniversary in Hanau and Rheinfelden

Hanau, 28 August 2013. In 2003 Umicore completed the acquisition of the Precious Metals Group (PMG) of the US company OMG. This transformational step enabled Umicore to develop its position as a leading supplier of technologically advanced materials based on precious metals.  The tenth anniversary of Umicore at its German sites is now being celebrated in Hanau under the title "10 years of Umicore - a sustainable vision comes to life."

The acquisition of PMG allowed Umicore to integrate a number of exciting businesses that fitted in very well with Umicore’s vision and growth strategy. At the time of its acquisition by Umicore, PMG employed 3,500 people, half of them at locations in Germany. Since the integration of the German sites ten years ago, the number of people working for Umicore in Germany has been rising steadily.

Umicore CEO Marc Grynberg commented: "Over the last ten years Umicore's activities in Germany have become a fully-fledged driver of our overall success and development. At Umicore we have a long term vision and the ability to stay the course. Our operations here in Hanau and elsewhere in Germany will play a big role not only in Umicore’s future success but also in enabling further improvements to people’s quality of life around the world through innovation in materials.”

At the event, which gathered guests from the world of politics, academia, schools and industry associations Dr Jörg Beuers, General Manager of Umicore AG & Co. KG, said: "Ten years of Umicore in Hanau and Rheinfelden – that means not only ten years of research and development of sustainable products but first and foremost ten years of respect for people and the environment. Today we will allow ourselves a short look back at past achievements but will primarily turn our attention to our best strengths: our forward-looking approach and our potential for innovation for the future."