Bayer MaterialScience to Sell Polyester Resins Businesses to Stepan

Leverkusen, – Bayer MaterialScience LLC has agreed to sell its global powder polyester resins business and its U.S.-based liquid polyester resins merchant business to Stepan Company of Northfield, Illinois. The sale is scheduled to be completed by June 1. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Both Bayer businesses are located in Columbus, Georgia. The 45 Bayer employees who work at the Columbus facility will be offered the opportunity to become Stepan employees.

“The divestiture allows us to focus on our core competencies,” explained Daniel Meyer, head of the Coatings, Adhesives, Specialties business unit at Bayer MaterialScience AG. “We believe we have found the right home for our North American polyester resins business and look forward to watching it develop further successfully under new ownership.”

Bayer will retain its trade name Desmophen® to continue to sell its diverse portfolio of products to the coatings, adhesives, sealants and elastomers industries around the world, including liquid polyester resins in markets outside the United States.

“This acquisition will significantly expand Stepan’s polyol product offering. Stepan is a leading producer of polyester polyol used in rigid insulation foam. This acquisition will diversify our polyol offering and accelerate our efforts to grow in CASE [coatings, adhesives, sealants and elastomers] and PUSH [Polyurethane Systems House] applications,” said F. Quinn Stepan, Jr., President and CEO of Stepan Company. “We intend to make future capital expenditures to expand the capabilities at Columbus.”
“Stepan is getting a solid business, a base of loyal customers and talented, value-driven employees,” said Jerry MacCleary, President of Bayer MaterialScience in the NAFTA region. “Everyone wins with this transaction.”

Bayer acquired the Columbus facility in 2000 when it purchased Sybron Chemicals Inc. Today, the facility includes both commercial and production operations, serving North America as a leading producer of polyester resins. Powder polyester resins are used in a variety of coatings applications, including industrial metal and transportation coatings. Liquid polyester resins are utilized as building blocks in various coatings and adhesives.

About Bayer MaterialScience:
With 2012 sales of EUR 11.5 billion, Bayer MaterialScience is among the world’s largest polymer companies. Business activities are focused on the manufacture of high-tech polymer materials and the development of innovative solutions for products used in many areas of daily life. The main segments served are the automotive, electrical and electronics, construction and the sports and leisure industries. At the end of 2012, Bayer MaterialScience had 30 production sites and employed approximately 14,500 people around the globe. Bayer MaterialScience is a Bayer Group company.

About Stepan Company
Stepan Company, headquartered in Northfield, Illinois, is a leading producer of specialty and intermediate chemicals used in household, industrial, personal care, agricultural, food and insulation related products. The common and the convertible preferred stocks are traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbols SCL and SCLPR.

For more information about Stepan Company, please visit the Company online at www.stepan.com.

Find more information at www.materialscience.bayer.com and www.bayercoatings.com.


Forward-Looking Statements
This release may contain forward-looking statements based on current assumptions and forecasts made by Bayer Group or subgroup management. Various known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors could lead to material differences between the actual future results, financial situation, development or performance of the company and the estimates given here. These factors include those discussed in Bayer’s public reports which are available on the Bayer website at www.bayer.com. The company assumes no liability whatsoever to update these forward-looking statements or to conform them to future events or developments.