Essen, Germany  - Capital Partners CVC, a British private-equity fund, has bought just over 25 per cent of Evonik, a German chemicals and electricity company, the vendor said Tuesday.

The sale, for 2.4 billion euros (3.7 billion dollars), advances plans to completely close down Germany's uneconomic deep coalmines, leaving only opencast mining.

The stake was sold by RAG Stiftung, a foundation created to wind up the state-owned coal industry and sell off its viable assets.

Those assets, comprising the Degussa chemicals factories, the Steag electricity-generation business and a real-estate portfolio, have been combined to form the Evonik company.

The announcement said the sale of 25.01 per cent of Evonik remained conditional on regulatory approval. RAG Stiftung said CVC was favoured because of its high bid and its past experience in chemicals and energy. (dpa)