Lubrizol To Acquire Noveon for $1.84 Billion

Wickliffe, OH-based Lubrizol Corp. will purchase Cleveland-based Noveon International, Inc., for $1.84 billion. The proposed acquisition has been approved by the boards of both companies, and is subject to regulatory approval. Executives expect the deal to close within three months.

The addition of Noveon to Lubrizol will create combined annual revenues of approximately $3.2 billion, according to executives. Noveon’s products, such as Carbopol acrylic thickeners and TempRite chlorinated polyvinyl chloride resins, will complement Lubrizol’s existing business in fluid technologies and expand Lubrizol’s base in the personal care and specialty coatings markets.

“The acquisition of Noveon will allow us to carry out our vision of enhancing our overall corporate growth rate,” commented W.G. Bares, Lubrizol’s chairman and chief executive officer. “Since 2000, we have made eight smaller acquisitions. These acquisitions successfully expanded our product platform beyond our traditional business of fluid technologies for transportation into fluid technologies for industry.”

Noevon will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Lubrizol and is expected to have annual sales of $1.6 billion. The transaction value includes a cash payment of about $920 million as of Dec. 31, 2003. To fund the transaction, Lubrizol has secured a bridge financing facility from Citicorp North America, Inc., which it intends to refinance after the transaction closes. Lubrizol expected the acquisition to be immediately accretive to cash flow and accretive to earnings per share within 12 months of the closing date.