Ad-hoc | 26 September 2002 08:30

Celanese AG english

Celanese AG to acquire emulsions and emulsion powders business from Clariant Ad-hoc-announcement transmitted by DGAP. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. ——————————————————————————– Kronberg, Germany, September 26, 2002 – Celanese AG (FSE: CZZ; NYSE: CZ) announced today that it has agreed to purchase the European emulsions and global emulsion powders business of Clariant AG (CLZNF.PK) for CHF 213.5 million (~EUR 147 million). Celanese expects the new business to be earnings and cash flow positive in 2003. The acquisition is subject to regulatory approvals and is expected to be completed by year-end. The acquisition builds on Celanese’s strong position in the acetyls chemical chain and will be part of the company’s Acetyl Products segment. The new business will enable Celanese to offer a comprehensive range of value-added emulsions and emulsion powders that serve as the primary ingredients in quality surface coatings, adhesives, non-woven textiles and other applications. The assets to be purchased by Celanese generated sales of approximately CHF 450 million (~EUR 300 million) in 2001, mostly from products sold under the leading Mowilith brand. The business holds the #2 position in emulsions overall in Europe, the #1 position in vinyl emulsions in Europe and the #3 position globally in powders. Employing 700 people, the emulsions and emulsion powders business has four production facilities servicing the unique product requirements of customers in central, northern, southern, and eastern Europe. There are also 11 sales offices and seven research and technology centers, all strategically located to provide rapid response to customers. Two of the production facilities are located in Germany and Spain, in close proximity to Celanese plants that supply chemical ingredients for emulsions. Celanese products that go into emulsions include vinyl acetate monomer (VAM), polyvinyl alcohol (PVOH), acrylates and dibutyl maleate (DBM). Vinyl emulsions are the largest end-use applications for VAM in Europe. If the transaction is completed by December 31st, 2002, and there are no other material changes to our outlook, Celanese’s guidance on year end 2002 net debt would be around EUR 1 billion, and trade working capital would be slightly higher than year-end 2001. end of ad-hoc-announcement (c)DGAP 26.09.2002 Issuer’s information/explanatory remarks concerning this ad-hoc-announcement: Contact – Media Relations: Phillip Elliott, Tel. +49 (0)69 305 33480 Ursula Tober, Tel. +49 (0)69 305 3737 Contact – Investor Relations: Michael Oberste-Wilms, Tel. +49 (0)69 305 83199 Oliver Stratmann, Tel. +49 (0)69 305 4139 Andrea Stine (USA), Tel. +1 908 522 7784 More information about Celanese is available in the internet under http://www.celanese.com ——————————————————————————– WKN: 575300; ISIN: DE0005753008; Index: MDAX Listed: Amtlicher Markt in Frankfurt; Freiverkehr in Berlin, Bremen, Düsseldorf, Hamburg, München und Stuttgart; NYSE 260830 Sep 02