WACKER Divests Ceramics Business To Ceradyne

München, 15.07. 2004 08:56

WACKER CORPORATE NEWS
WACKER Divests Ceramics Business To Ceradyne

Further milestone in WACKER's strategic focus on core chemical operations
Ceradyne seeking diversification and growth
Munich (Germany), Costa Mesa (Calif., USA), July 1st, 2004 – Wacker-Chemie GmbH and Ceradyne, Inc. (Nasdaq:CRDN) entered into a sales and purchase agreement in which Ceradyne will acquire ESK Ceramics GmbH & Co. KG (WACKER CERAMICS), a 100 percent subsidiary of Wacker-Chemie GmbH.

WACKER CERAMICS' operations include the development and production of advanced technical non oxide ceramic parts as well as high purity ceramic powders and functional coatings. Customers for WACKER CERAMICS’ nonoxide ceramic powders, products and functional coatings include leading manufacturers in chemical and processing, machinery, automotive, military, electronics and power engineering industries. Ceradyne has been a customer of WACKER CERAMICS for over thirty years. WACKER CERAMICS' geographic markets are Germany, Europe, the United States, and Asia. For 2003, WACKER's ceramics business achieved sales of EUR 74.3 million, or approximately USD 90 million.

WACKER President & Chief Executive Officer Dr. Peter-Alexander Wacker commented: "We are pleased with divesting our advanced technical ceramics business, which accounted for approximately 4 percent of WACKER Group's annual revenues. This agreement is a further milestone in our strategic course to focus on our core chemicals operations. We believe that Ceradyne's plans for growth, which includes more widely diversified products and regional markets, can help our former ceramics business reach its full potential and offer our talented employees an excellent opportunity to contribute to that success."

Joel Moskowitz, Ceradyne Chief Executive Officer, added: "We are very excited to acquire a world-class company with global market presence, complementary technology and product lines, an excellent management team with expertise with boron carbide powder, a key raw material for Ceradyne armor. We feel this acquisition fits very well into our strategy to significantly diversify our revenue sources and support future growth."

About Ceradyne
Ceradyne is a publicly held California-based company and develops, manufactures and markets advanced technical ceramic products and components for defense, industrial, automotive/diesel and commercial applications. In 2003, Ceradyne achieved sales of more than $100 million, or EUR 81 million. Additional information about the Company can be found at www.ceradyne.com.

About WACKER
WACKER (www.wacker.com) is a globally operating chemical company headquartered in Munich, Germany. Its portfolio focuses on semiconductor technology, silicone chemistry and specialty chemicals. The WACKER Group posted sales of around EUR 2.5 billion in 2003, thereof roughly 80 percent were generated outside Germany. WACKER employs 15,600 people at 24 production sites in Europe, the Americas and Asia, and over 100 sales offices worldwide. Ownership of WACKER is 51% held by the Dr. Alexander Wacker Familiengesellschaft mbH, Munich, Germany and 49% by Aventis S.A., Strasbourg, France.

Kontaktinformationen:
Wacker-Chemie GmbH
Media Relations and Information
Christof Bachmair
Tel.: +49 89 6279-1830
Fax: +49 89 6279-1239
christof.bachmair@wacker.com

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