German radio MDR transcript reports
that the Chairperson of the Employee's Council states that EFL is retaining all 143 employees. I can now see the acquisition pattern. In German law, a "Social Plan" to satisfy all severance claims and legal fees for 143 employees would have cost Evoniks in the neighborhood of 5+ Million Euros. They already had an offer of 1 Euro from a Korean company. All EFL had to offer to make this work: spare Evoniks the "Sozialplan". However, keeping 143 employees will not be cheap for EFL, either, especially if they want to convert to NMP-eliminated operation which presumably requires changes in the calandering and Al and Cu surface preparation. I can't see how their payroll costs can't be anything less than $50,000 per employee and year. Let's see how they will manage their working capital needs...