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GenCorp Completes Purchase of Sequa Chemicals

30 October 1998

GenCorp Completes Purchase of Sequa Chemicals, Opening Door to New Related Markets

    FAIRLAWN, Ohio, Oct. 29 -- GenCorp Inc.'s
acquisition of Sequa Corporation's U.S.-based specialty chemicals unit,
completed today, will expand service to existing customers and provide entry
into new related markets.  The purchase includes the operations of Sequa
Chemicals, Inc. in Chester, South Carolina and Greensboro, North Carolina.
The facilities will be integrated into GenCorp's Specialty Polymers business,
which will be renamed GenCorp Performance Chemicals, effective December 1,
1998, to reflect a broader scope of product lines resulting from the Sequa
Chemicals acquisition.  The Specialty Polymers unit has been a leading
producer of high quality engineered latex polymers for the paper, carpet and
various specialty industries.
    "This acquisition is a perfect fit for our strategy to gain value-added
growth through diversification into new markets that share technology and
customer synergies with the markets in which we currently participate," said
John Yasinsky, Chairman and CEO.  "As one of GenCorp's key growth platforms,
Specialty Polymers is focused on a two-pronged approach:  internal growth
including the introduction of exciting new and differentiated products, and
scope expansion through acquisitions such as the purchase of the strategically
located Calhoun, Georgia latex facility earlier this year and now the Sequa
Chemicals business."
    Sequa Chemicals will add $90 million in sales across several market
segments, including textiles, nonwovens, paper, construction, graphic arts and
industrial coatings and adhesives.  It will provide about 30% of increased
capacity for an array of emulsion polymers and polymer hybrids, including
acrylics and vinyl acetate.  Sequa's product diversity also enables GenCorp to
gain a new presence in related chemical markets that use resins, softeners,
lubricants, catalysts, insolubilizers and sizing additives.
    "We are no longer a business focused primarily on styrene-butadiene latex
chemistries," said Marv Zima, who heads GenCorp Specialty Polymers as
President.  "This acquisition opens new opportunities for us to offer
additional chemical products to our existing customers as well as advanced
specialty polymers to Sequa Chemical's current customer base.  It enables us
to make the logical step into related markets, armed with a technically
diverse and balanced line of products that will help customers differentiate
themselves."
    "A broader line of products will also assist us in our global expansion
efforts as we are now able to deliver added value in a greater number of key
technical areas," Zima added.
    The Chester, South Carolina facility is located about 40 miles south of
Charlotte, North Carolina and employs about 228 people.  In addition to the
manufacturing plant, the 88 acre site served as headquarters for the Sequa
Chemicals unit.  Another plant, on 22 acres, is located just outside
Greensboro, North Carolina and employs 64 people.
    Included in the acquisition is the transfer of over 40 patents.  Among
them are patents related to permanent press technology.
    GenCorp Specialty Polymers operates the world's largest specialty latex
facility in Mogadore, Ohio, which completed a 35% capacity expansion in 1997.
This year, GenCorp broke ground on a new Pilot Plant facility at Mogadore,
scheduled for completion in late 1999.  In March of 1998, GenCorp acquired the
Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company's Chemical Products latex facility in
Calhoun, Georgia.  GenCorp also operates a state-of-the-art plant in Green
Bay, Wisconsin, which opened in 1993.
    GenCorp Specialty Polymers is a major supplier of styrene butadiene
polymers that are used primarily as binders for high quality coatings on
magazines and packaging and for carpet backing.  It continues to expand
product line offerings for new applications that include nonwoven fabric and
protective garment binders, automotive, marine and industrial in-mold coatings
and a variety of specialty saturants and binders.  Specialty Polymers' product
lines, not counting those gained in the Sequa Chemicals acquisition, have
increased by 50% over the past three years.
    GenCorp is a market-driven, technology-based manufacturer with leading
positions in numerous polymer product markets as well as the aerospace and
defense and automotive industries.