Eastman to sell product lines to Apollo Management

NEW YORK and KINGSPORT, Tenn. – Marine industry supplier Eastman Chemical Co. has reached an agreement to sell some of its businesses and product lines in its coatings, adhesives, specialty polymers and inks segment to Apollo Management, L.P., a private investment firm, the companies said in a press release yesterday.

Apollo said the new company will be named Resolution Specialty Materials, Inc. and will be based in Houston. RSM will be led by Jeff Nodland, a 25-year veteran of the coatings and composites industry.

“Completing this divestiture results in a better alignment of company resources with our strategy going forward,” said Brian Ferguson, Eastman’s chairman and CEO. “We’re pleased that these businesses and product lines are now part of a company where they are a better fit for future plans. This divestiture represents a major milestone in Eastman’s ongoing strategy to improve the company’s profitability.”

The Eastman businesses and product lines included in the divestiture are: acrylate ester monomers, composites (unsaturated polyester resins), inks and graphics arts raw materials, liquid resins, powder resins and textile chemicals, according to the company.

Manufacturing sites divested include: Pleasant Prairie, Wis.; LaVergne, Tenn.; Carpentersville, Ill.; Roebuck, S.C.; Lynwood, Calif.; Columbus and Forest Park, Ga.; and Ennis, Texas, in the U.S. Sites outside the U.S. include: Kallo, Belgium; Sant’ Albano and Cola’ di Lazise, Italy; Molndal, Sweden; Hamburg, Germany; Sokolov, Czech Republic; and Tianjin, Nanping and Funing, People’s Republic of China.

Approximately 2,100 employees are associated with the businesses and sites acquired by Apollo.

“This event is obviously a milestone for Resolution Specialty Materials, as it emerges as a strongly situated, independent supplier of a broad range of chemicals for the coatings, composites, graphics arts and textile industries, among others,” said Nodland. “With the talented employees we inherited, we are confident of the company’s ability to continue to provide a high level of services to existing customers, while also growing the business.”

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