Teknor Apex Purchases Singapore Polymer Corporation, Leading Thermoplastics Compounder in Asia-Pacific

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SINGAPORE, October 9, 2001: Teknor Apex Company today acquired Singapore Polymer Corporation (Pte) Ltd., a diversified thermoplastics compounder with a nominal capacity of 70,000 metric tons (155,000,000 lb.). The transaction involved the purchase of shares in Singapore Polymer Corp. from Oslo-based Norsk Hydro ASA and the Development Bank of Singapore.

Singapore Polymer Corp. manufactures flexible and rigid vinyl, thermoplastic elastomers (TPEs), polyolefin and styrenic compounds, and color and additive masterbatches. It operates the largest and most diversified compounding facility in the Asia-Pacific region, according to Teknor Apex President Jonathan D. Fain, and supplies customers in Southeast Asia, India, China, Indonesia, Australia, and New Zealand. "Singapore Polymer Corp. will operate as in the past, with integration of new products and technical support from Teknor Apex," Fain said.

Privately-held Teknor Apex is one of the largest compounders in North America, with ten locations in the U.S. It has been a leading supplier of flexible vinyl compounds for more than fifty years, offers the most diversified TPE product line, supplies color concentrates to all sectors of the plastics industry, and has a growing business as a toll manufacturer of specialty compounds based on polyolefin, styrenic, and engineering thermoplastic polymers.

"Purchasing Singapore Polymer Corp. is thus far the most important in a series of initiatives to establish Teknor Apex as a leading international supplier of custom compounds," Fain said. "Beyond its considerable size, what is remarkable about this acquisition is that Singapore Polymer Corp. specializes in the same product areas as those which have formed the core of our own plastics business for decades."

Singapore Polymer Corp. operates 18 compounding lines. Its products include: Sinvicomp (TM) rigid and flexible PVC compounds, used in bottle, medical, wire and cable, profile, and custom injection molding applications; Sinpolene (TM) color and additive masterbatches; Sinpolene (TM) polyolefin compounds, including mineral-filled, glass-filled, and flame retardant formulations, cross-linked PE for wire and cable, and medium- and high-density PE for pipe; Sinelec (TM) conductive styrenic and polyolefin compounds; and Singaprene (TM) styrene-butadiene-styrene TPE compounds, ranging in hardness from 30 to 95 Shore A and used in footwear, electrical, appliance, automotive, and other applications.

Singapore Polymer Corp. is in the process of building a new, expanded headquarters and manufacturing complex that will be completed by the end of 2003. Cheah Sin Hua, who has been with Singapore Polymer Corp. since it was founded in 1970, will continue to serve as Managing Director. The company employs 175 people.

"As the most respected compounder in Asia, Singapore Polymer Corp. brings to the new venture extensive manufacturing capabilities and long experience in its vast regional market," said Mr. Cheah. "The technology integration from Teknor Apex can only strengthen its leadership."

The integration will begin soon. "While maintaining its supply arrangements with existing customers, Singapore Polymer Corp. will also provide them access to products developed in the U.S. by Teknor Apex," Fain said. "We intend to manufacture many of these products in Singapore, enabling our multi-national customers to obtain precisely the same compounds for their Asian operations as they do in North America."

The purchase of Singapore Polymer Corp. is the latest venture in a growth strategy of acquisition and partnering by which Teknor Apex has expanded its access to world markets for products as diverse as wire and cable compounds, liner materials for beverage caps and closures,and TPEs for appliance, medical-device, automotive, and consumer-product applications. These ventures of the past three years were, in turn, preceded by acquisitions in the late 1980s and early1990s of U.S. businesses in the fields of compounding and color concentrate manufacture.

"Singapore Polymer Corp. will establish Teknor Apex as a major force in the Asia-
Pacific market, which has greater potential than any other market in the world," said Dr. Robert Brookman, Vice President for Business Development. "Consider the PVC sector, where we helped pioneer the compounding of flexible vinyl. Today per-capita consumption of PVC in the United States is 20 pounds [9 kg]; in the Asia-Pacific region it is only five pounds [2.3 kg]. Manufacturers there will need vast quantities of vinyl compound to meet growing domestic and export demand for appliance, automotive, medical, wire and cable, and a host of other uses."

Besides the Vinyl Division of Teknor Apex, four of the company's seven other business units are expected to gain access to new markets through Singapore Polymer Corp.: the Thermoplastic Elastomer Division (styrenic and olefinic TPEs), the Specialty Compounding Division (toll production of compounds and additive packages), Teknor Color Company (color and additive concentrates), and the Chemical Division (plasticizers).

Acting as facilitator to Teknor Apex in the transaction was the global mergers and acquisitions firm of Trudeau & Trudeau Associates, Inc., Braintree, Massachusetts, USA.

Singapore Polymer Corp. is currently headquartered at 10 Jalan Buroh, Singapore 619471. Tel: 65-265-2455. Fax: 65-265-1821. E-mail: gen_info@spcpl.com.sg. Visit: www.spcpl.com.sg.