Speciality chemical company OM Group from Cleveland, USA, to be new owner of VACUUMSCHMELZE

Financial investor OEP acquired VAC in 2005 and successfully realised the company's growth potential with extensive investments. Today VAC is a leading global company delivering robust growth and high profitability with a strong R&D background. The sale to a company producing speciality chemicals, high-performance materials and electrochemical energy storage devices follows a compelling industrial logic and offers high development potential for both companies. The strategic investor OM Group has agreed to pay one billion US$ (approx. 700 million €) to OEP. The transaction is subject to regulatory approval and expected to close in the third quarter of 2011. The well-established OM Group, based in Cleveland, Ohio, does not only complement its current business activities in the areas of specialized chemicals and metal-based materials with the acquisition of VAC. OM Group further wants to penetrate future markets, especially in the area of renewable energies. The acquisition of VAC will also bolster the critical mass of OM Group's portfolio and thus help to mitigate the impact of fluctuating raw material prices. Underlining the success of VAC's corporate strategy, OM Group has announced that VACUUMSCHMELZE will retain its name and continue to operate in its current industry sectors and locations. In addition, the new owner has also expressed full confidence in VAC's present management team for post-acquisition operations. OM GROUP, INC. OM Group, Inc., with fiscal 2010 net sales of approximately $1.2 billion, is a leading global solutions provider of specialty chemicals, advanced materials, electrochemical energy storage and unique technologies crucial to enabling its customers to meet increasingly stringent market and application requirements. The company serves a wide variety of sectors, including rechargeable batteries, electronic devices, cutting tools, petrochemical catalysts, electronics manufacturing, industrial coatings, defense, aerospace, and medical devices. Headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, the OM Group operates manufacturing facilities in the Americas, Europe, Asia and Africa and employs approximately 3,000 people worldwide. Find out more at www.omgi.com VACUUMSCHMELZE GmbH & Co. KG VACUUMSCHMELZE (VAC), based in Hanau, designs, produces and markets advanced materials, primarily magnetic but also with other physical properties, and related products. In 1914, the first vacuum furnace laid the foundation for today's VACUUMSCHMELZE, which has 1,400 employees. Industrial vacuum melting techniques for alloys have been in operation since 1923. VAC Group today achieves annual sales of over 350 million euros in over 40 countries and is the holder of more than 750 patents, placing it among the world's most highly innovative developers of advanced industrial materials. VAC's portfolio comprises a broad array of semi-finished products and parts with superior magnetic and physical properties, inductive components for electronics, magnets and magnetic systems for use in a wide variety of fields and industries from watch-making to medical technology, regenerative energies, shipbuilding, installation, and the automotive and aviation industries. VAC's custom solutions are developed in close collaboration with the customer, reflecting the company's expertise in materials and state-of-the-art production technology. Find out more at www.vacuumschmelze.com