Quadrant Holding Acquires DSM Engineering Plastic Products

DSM N.V., a highly integrated group of companies with worldwide interests in life-science products, performance materials, and chemicals, has announced an acquisition agreement between the Zürich, Switzerland-based Quadrant Holding and DSM N.V. Under the terms of the agreement, Quadrant Holding has taken control of DSM’s Engineering Plastic Products (EPP) business group. The takeover by Quadrant Holding will have no direct consequences for the business group’s employees.

"This acquisition is a major strategic step in the relatively short history of our company," said Arno Schenk, Deputy Chairman of the Board of Directors of Quadrant Holding. "EPP forms an excellent industrial fit with Symalit, our successful advanced plastics business featuring fluoroplastics. Thanks to this acquisition, Quadrant will gain a leading position in this growth market, a position we plan to expand further. We expect that our composites business will also benefit from the new international platform and EPP’s excellent know-how in the fields of advanced plastics and applied process technology."

"Last September, DSM announced its intention to focus on specialties in the fields of life science products and performance materials," said Ben van Kooten, Director of DSM EPP. "Engineering plastic stock shapes and finished components – the field in which Engineering Plastic Products is active – fits much better in Quadrant’s strategy than in that of DSM, which is busy transforming itself into a specialties company."

Quadrant Holding is a Swiss holding company listed on the Swiss Stock Exchange (SWX). Major shareholders are the company’s management and first-class Swiss institutional investors. Thanks to several industrial acquisitions in the past four years, Quadrant has developed into a large plastics processing group. Its major business is Symalit, which specializes in products for the automotive industry. Its GMT composites (glass-mat reinforced thermoplastics), which are produced in Switzerland and in Germany, are increasingly replacing metallic parts. Symalit also extrudes advanced engineering semi-finished and finished products from fluoroplastics.

For more information, contact David Klein, DSM North American Press Relations c/o MBC, 609-818-0500, Fax: 609-818-0555, E-mail: dklein@mbcb2b.com, Web: www.dsm.nl.