Group Management Report Products Safety and Health Environment Human Resources Social Commitment Consolidated Financial Statements 45
Group Basics
Organization and Legal Structure
The ALTANA Group is a global supplier of specialized chemical
products and related services for different branches of
industry and application fields. In the 2020 fiscal year, the
Group’s 68 consolidated subsidiaries and associated com-
panies achieved sales of more than € 2.2 billion. The ALTANA
Group employs about 6,500 people.
ALTANA’s activities are grouped into four divisions, each
of which has its own management and organizational
structure. The divisions and the Group companies assigned to
them are decentralized and empowered to largely make
market-, location-, and product-related decisions themselves.
The divisions are active worldwide and have their own production
sites and sales offices as well as research and development
laboratories in the regional markets that are important
for them. In addition to the four operating divisions,
there are holding companies in which Group management
activities and internal services are bundled. Furthermore, activities
for the cross-divisional development of new busi-
ness areas are undertaken at this level.
ALTANA AG, headquartered in Wesel, is a stock cor-
poration in accordance with German law. As the ALTANA
Group’s managing company, it assumes strategic control
of the Group and the divisions. ALTANA AG is led by the Man-
agement Board, whose members act on their own respon-
sibility and are solely committed to the interests of the company.
The Management Board’s activities are monitored
by the Supervisory Board, whose members also advise the
Management Board. More information on ALTANA AG’s
management and control system is provided in the Declaration
on Corporate Governance in the Group Management Report.
All of the shares in ALTANA AG are held by SKion GmbH,
Bad Homburg v. d. H., Germany, an investment company
owned by Susanne Klatten.
The decentralized organizational structure combines
the individual operating units’ ability to act swiftly and cater
to the needs of markets and customers with the advantages
of a financially strong and internationally active group. The
organization is designed to adapt flexibly to changed market
conditions and a volatile economic environment. In addition,
new activities can be integrated into the organization in
a short time.
Business Activity and Divisions
As a globally active specialty chemicals group, ALTANA fo-
cuses its core activities on sophisticated markets and customers
who need individual solutions.
A significant share of the ALTANA Group’s product and
service portfolio encompasses input materials for the production
of coatings, printing inks, and plastics. In addition,
ALTANA manufactures printing inks and coatings for spe-
cial applications, products for 3D printing, insulating resins
for the electrical and electronics industries, sealants for
packaging, and measuring and testing instruments.
Activities of the Divisions
BYK
The BYK division is one of the leading international suppliers
of special-purpose ingredients, so-called additives, used in
coatings and paints, plastics, exploration, and other industrial
applications. The division’s products, most of which are
used in only very small amounts, have a decisive influence on
the properties of their customers’ end products or enable
customers to improve their manufacturing and industrial processes.
Wetting and dispersing additives, one of the division’s
main product groups, help improve the even distribution of
pigments and filling materials, and enable them to function
better, for example in coatings and plastics. With the help of
defoamers and air-release additives, foaming is prevented