<b>Includes Long-Term Tar Supply Agreement</b>PITTSBURGH, PA, Mar 02, 2010 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) -- Koppers Holdings Inc. (NYSE: KOP) announced that one of its
wholly-owned subsidiaries, Koppers International B.V. has completed a
transaction to acquire 100% of the outstanding shares of
privately-owned Cindu Chemicals B.V. ("Cindu") from joint owners
Cindu B.V. and Corus Staal B.V. for an undisclosed purchase price.
Koppers has funded the acquisition primarily with cash on hand in
Europe.
In addition to acquiring ownership of Cindu, Koppers has entered into
a long-term tar supply contract with Corus Staal, which supplies the
majority of raw material requirements for the Uithoorn plant located
in the Netherlands.
Cindu's operations and end-markets are similar to those of other
Koppers plants within the Carbon Materials and Chemicals business
unit. Primary products include carbon pitch, naphthalene, carbon
black feedstock and certain specialty products and coatings. The most
recently reported sales for Cindu for 2008 were approximately EUR 50
million. The business includes a 140,000 metric ton tar distillation
plant located in Uithoorn, Netherlands and storage tanks located at
the Port of Amsterdam.
Walt Turner, President and CEO of Koppers, said, "The acquisition of
Cindu gives Koppers a stronger presence in the European market while
enhancing our ability to serve our export markets. We are excited to
welcome the Cindu employees into the Koppers group, and we look
forward to their involvement and contributions to our future
endeavors in the coal tar chemicals business. We view this
transaction as one of many steps that we are taking to provide our
customers with quality products and services."
About Koppers
Koppers, with corporate headquarters and a research center in
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, is a global integrated producer of carbon
compounds and treated wood products. Including its joint ventures,
Koppers operates facilities in the United States, United Kingdom,
Denmark, Australia, and China. The stock of Koppers Holdings Inc. is
publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol
"KOP." For more information, visit us on the Web: www.koppers.com.
Questions concerning investor relations should be directed to Brian
H. McCurrie at 412 227 2153 or Michael W. Snyder at 412 227 2131.
Safe Harbor Statement
Certain statements in this press release are "forward-looking
statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation
Reform Act of 1995 and may include, but are not limited to,
statements about sales levels, restructuring, profitability and
anticipated expenses and cash outflows. All forward-looking
statements involve risks and uncertainties. All statements contained
herein that are not clearly historical in nature are forward-looking,
and words such as "believe," "anticipate," "expect," "estimate,"
"may," "will," "should," "continue," "plans," "intends," "likely," or
other similar words or phrases are generally intended to identify
forward-looking statements. Any forward-looking statement contained
herein, in other press releases, written statements or documents
filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, or in Koppers
communications with and discussions with investors and analysts in
the normal course of business through meetings, phone calls and
conference calls, regarding expectations with respect to sales,
earnings, cash flows, operating efficiencies, product introduction or
expansion, the benefits of acquisitions and divestitures or other
matters as well as financings and repurchases of debt or equity
securities, are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and
contingencies. Many of these risks, uncertainties and contingencies
are beyond our control, and may cause actual results, performance or
achievements to differ materially from anticipated results,
performance or achievements. Factors that might affect such
forward-looking statements, include, among other things, general
economic and business conditions, demand for Koppers goods and
services, competitive conditions, interest rate and foreign currency
rate fluctuations, availability of key raw materials and unfavorable
resolution of claims against us, as well as those discussed more
fully elsewhere in this release and in documents filed with the
Securities and Exchange Commission by Koppers, particularly our
latest annual report on Form 10-K and quarterly report on Form 10-Q.
Any forward-looking statements in this release speak only as of the
date of this release, and we undertake no obligation to update any
forward-looking statement to reflect events or circumstances after
that date or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.
For Information:
Brian H. McCurrie
Vice President, Chief Financial Officer
412 227 2153
Email Contact
SOURCE: Koppers Holdings Inc.
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