Wacker holds own in chemical world

Wacker Chemic, a private company owned 51% by the Wacker family and 49% by the Hoechst unit of Sanofi-Aventis invests some 6% of its annual sales into research and development (R&D). Private ownership allows the company to invest such large amounts on R&D, without having to fend off investor complaints of high spending and put the research into practice with expensive plant construction projects that public companies might shy away from.