ALTANA SEES CHEMICAL SPIN OFF IN AUTUMN 2006 OR SOONER

Altana AG's chief executive Nikolaus Schweickart told the Boersen-Zeitung the company sees autumn, 2006 as a likely date for the spin off of its chemical division. 'Depending on stock exchange requirements, we will potentially list the shares in the autumn of 2006 or perhaps earlier,' Schweickart said in the interview. He declined to comment on whether the chemical division will carry out a capital increase as part of the initial public offering.

Forbes (http://www.forbes.com/business/feeds/afx/2005/10/07/afx2265619.html)