| |
Koppers Completes Purchase
of Tarconord
May 15, 2000, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania — Koppers,
Inc announced today that it has completed the purchase of Tarconord
A/S (Nyborg, Denmark). Koppers previously held a 50% interest in
Tarconord. Tarconord was formed in 1987 by Koppers and its former
partner, Tarco A/S. Tarconord operates Europe's second largest
coal tar distillation business and manufactures products such as
carbon pitch for aluminum smelting, carbon distillates for carbon
black production and naphthalene and phthalic anhydride for use
in the manufacture of plasticizers, resins and dye making.
Tarconord,
with sales of approximately $90 million for the year ended December
31, 1999, operates one facility in Denmark and,
through its wholly owned subsidiary, Bitmac Ltd., operates three
facilities in the United Kingdom. "We believe that, with this
acquisition, Koppers has the opportunity to provide unparalleled
service of the highest quality to our international carbon material
customers," said Walter W. Turner, president and chief executive
officer. The European operations, which will now be known as Koppers
Europe, distill approximately 400,000 tons of coal tar annually,
increasing Koppers' annual distillation volume to over 1.5 million
tons.
Koppers competes worldwide in the coal tar chemical
business, both in sourcing raw materials and the sale of its finished
products.
Carbon pitch, the major product of coal tar distillation, is
consumed throughout the world as a binder material for the aluminum
and
electrode carbon industries.
Mr. Turner continued, "With this
purchase, Koppers is better positioned to meet global competition
and to achieve further growth
in our Carbon Materials & Chemicals business. We are very pleased
to bring the Tarconord and Bitmac operations fully into the Koppers
Group. We intend to manage Koppers' European operation locally,
with a similar complement of employees. Looking forward, we are
studying the possibility of further capital improvements at our
newly acquired facilities and expect to have a better understanding
of these opportunities before the end of 2000."
Koppers is
a global integrated producer of carbon compounds and treated wood
products for use in a variety of markets, including
the railroad, aluminum, chemical and steel industries. Including
Tarconord and Bitmac, the Company operates 39 facilities in the
United States, Australia, New Zealand, the South Pacific (primarily
Australia and New Zealand), Denmark and the United Kingdom. The
Company also maintains an indirect ownership interest in an additional
facility in the United States through its domestic joint venture
KSA. Additionally, in March 1999 the Company entered into a joint
venture agreement with Tangshan Iron & Steel Co. ("TISCO")
to improve and operate a tar distillation facility in China; that
joint venture is 60% owned by the Company and is expected to be
operational within the next 12 months. The Company's stock is shared
by a large number of management investors and by majority equity
owner, Saratoga Partners of New York City.
View the Koppers 2002 Earnings. |
