Reichhold Announces Plans to Sell Its Formulated Adhesives Business

    RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C.--Nov. 13, 2001--Reichhold, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Dainippon Ink and Chemicals, Incorporated (DIC), is negotiating to sell its Swift(R) Adhesives business to Forbo Holding A.G., a global manufacturer of adhesives, belting and floor coverings.
    Forbo Holding A.G. is headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland. The parties hope to finalize negotiations by year-end.
    The adhesives industry, which has a global market size of approximately $22 billion (2.64 trillion yen), has been integrated into a few large chemical companies and many niche companies that manufacture specialty adhesives. Reichhold has been planning to reinforce its core business and divest its non-core business as part of its restructuring plan.
    The Swift(R) Adhesives business, which operates in Europe, North, Central and South America as well as a joint venture in China, targets industries such as product assembly, automotive, packaging, graphic arts and construction. The business has annual sales of about $250 million (30.0 billion yen) with around 700 employees.
    Forbo is expanding its presence within the adhesives industry and has implemented several acquisitions earlier this year. The principal applications of its business are construction, automotive, product assembly, footwear, woodworking and packaging, with annual adhesives sales of approximately CHF 230 million (16.9 billion yen) this year.
    With this divestiture, Reichhold intends to put more focus on its core business units, Composites and Coatings. Reichhold announced in June to form a specialty latex JV with Dow Chemical, and sell its carpet/paper latex business to Dow as part of its restructuring plan of "Select and Focus." This is now under review by the authorities concerned.

    About Reichhold, Inc.

    Reichhold is the leading global supplier of polymer resins for composite applications in a wide variety of markets, including marine construction, transportation and automotive. The company also provides a vast range of specialty resins to the coatings industry for use in architecture, wood and other markets. For more information on Reichhold visit www.reichhold.com.