GRACE ACQUIRES WUHAN MEILIXIN NEW BUILDING
MATERIALS CO., LTD. IN CHINA
Columbia, Maryland and Wuhan, China — November 8, 2010 — W. R. Grace & Co.
(NYSE: GRA) today announced the purchase of the business and assets of Wuhan Meilixin New Building Materials Co., Ltd. (Meilixin), a manufacturer of waterproofing products located in China. The financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Meilixin has manufacturing facilities for the production of customizable, fit-for-use waterproofing membranes, materials and compounds, as well as administrative offices and warehousing operations in Wuhan, the modern capital of the Hubei province located in Central China. There are around 50 employees at the facilities.
Meilixin’s products include multilayer macromolecule compound membranes, self-adhesive rubber membranes, cementitious capillary crystalline waterproofing materials and macromolecule compound coatings. The products help protect structures from the damaging effects of water. In addition to being sold in China, the products have been exported to Southeast Asia, America, Europe and other regions of the world.
"This acquisition continues the series of strategic investments we have made in international markets that positions us to capitalize on emerging economies and global infrastructure spending growth," remarked Andrew Bonham, President, Grace Construction Products. "We are excited to welcome Meilixin to Grace, and we will continue to identify similar opportunities to expand our footprint and elevate our brand recognition."
Philip Krichilsky, Vice President and General Manager, Grace Construction Products - Asia Pacific, commented, "By acquiring Meilixin, we expand our manufacturing capabilities and gain an established distribution network to meet the needs of construction customers in the fast growing Chinese market, as well as other emerging markets."
Meilixin has obtained internationally recognized certifications for its quality management (ISO 9001:2000) and environmental management (ISO 14000:2004) systems that provide the framework for the company to maintain product quality and sustainability.
Meilixin Founder and General Manager Yu Nianxu said, "The Grace Construction Products name is synonymous with high-quality and we are excited to begin working with our new colleagues to produce innovative products for increasingly demanding projects." Mr. Yu has joined Grace in the newly created position of General Manager, China Waterproofing.
The Meilixin business will be integrated into Grace Construction Products’ Specialty Building Materials product group and operate through Grace’s Chinese subsidiary, Grace China Ltd.
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About Grace Construction Products
Grace Construction Products is a world-leading provider of construction chemicals and building materials that have been used to enhance the durability, strength and appearance of structures all over the world. Products include technically superior concrete admixtures,fibers, surface treatments and liquid pigments, additives for cement processing, and fire protection, waterproofing and masonry products. More information is available at www.graceconstruction.com
About Grace
Grace is a leading global supplier of catalysts and other products to petroleum refiners;catalysts for the manufacture of plastics; silica-based engineered and specialty materials for a wide range of industrial applications; sealants and coatings for food and beverage packaging, and specialty chemicals, additives and building materials for commercial and residential construction. Founded in 1854, Grace has operations in over 40 countries. For more information, visit Grace's web site at www.grace.com.
This announcement contains forward-looking statements, that is, information related to future, not past, events. Such statements generally include the words "believes," "plans," "intends," "targets," "will," "expects," "suggests," "anticipates," "continues" or similar expressions. For these statements, Grace claims the protection of the safe harbor for forward-looking statements contained in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Grace is subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements or that could cause other forward-looking information to prove incorrect. Factors that could cause actual results to materially differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements include, without limitation:developments affecting Grace’s bankruptcy, proposed plan of reorganization and settlements with certain creditors, the cost and availability of raw materials (including rare earth) and energy, developments affecting Grace’s unfunded pension obligations, risks related to foreign operations,especially in emerging regions, the effectiveness of Grace’s research and development and growth investments, Grace’s legal and environmental proceedings, costs of compliance with environmental regulation and those factors set forth in Grace’s most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K, quarterly report on Form 10-Q and current reports on Form 8-K, which have been filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission and are readily available on the Internet at www.sec.gov. Reported results should not be considered as an indication of future performance. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on Grace’s projections and forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date thereof. Grace undertakes no obligation to publicly release any revision to the projections and forward-looking statements contained in this announcement, or to update them to reflect events or circumstances occurring after the date of this announcement.
