Elementis Regulatory News (ELM)

20 February 2013

Elementis - Acquisition of Hi-Mar Specialty Chemicals, LLC for $33 million

Elementis plc (ELM.L) ("Elementis" or the "Company") today announces that it has agreed, through its wholly owned subsidiary Elementis Specialties, Inc, to purchase the assets of Hi-Mar Specialty Chemicals, LLC ("Hi-Mar"), a US coatings additives company, for a cash consideration of $33 million.

Hi-Mar was established in 1973 and is a leading supplier of defoamers to the coatings, construction and oilfield drilling industries, with manufacturing and technical facilities based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The acquisition of Hi-Mar will further expand the Company's product and technical service offering in these high value segments.

For the 12 months ended 31 December 2012, the acquired business reported, on an unaudited basis, sales of $14.5 million and EBITDA of $3.5 million.

Further growth will be driven by combining the market positions, technical capabilities and product portfolios of the two businesses, to provide customers with an enhanced product and service offering and to further expand sales of Hi-Mar products beyond North America.

The transaction was signed and closed on 19 February 2013 and is expected to be earnings enhancing in the current year.

Commenting on the transaction Group Chief Executive, David Dutro, said:

"The acquisition of Hi-Mar Specialty Chemicals broadens our capabilities in value added, higher margin defoamer markets. Our two businesses share a common commitment to serving customers with innovative solutions and technologies, and Hi-Mar's complementary product portfolio, customer service culture and the opportunity to leverage newly acquired technologies globally make it an excellent addition to our Specialty Products business. This is an exciting time for Elementis and, due to the cash generative nature of our Company, we are able to comfortably finance both organic growth and these bolt-on acquisitions. Consequently, this transaction will not affect the special dividend to be announced with the preliminary results on 26 February 2013."

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