Albemarle enters into definitive agreement to sell Tribotecc Metal Sulfides business to Treibacher

BATON ROUGE, La., Nov. 5, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Albemarle Corporation (NYSE: ALB), a leading manufacturer of highly-engineered specialty chemicals, announced today that it has signed a definitive agreement to sell its Tribotecc metal sulfides business to Treibacher Industrie AG, an international leading player in the chemistry and metallurgy sectors. Included in the transaction are sites in Vienna and Arnoldstein, Austria and Tribotecc's proprietary sulfide synthesis process.

Albemarle's president and CEO Luke Kissam said, "This transaction furthers Albemarle's strategic plan of focusing on our core bromine, lithium, catalysts and surface treatment businesses.  This sale represents the optimal choice to maximize shareholder value for Albemarle while positioning Tribotecc to extend its track record of industry leadership, excellent customer service, and success going forward.  I expect the strong foundation built by the Tribotecc team will enable continued success under new ownership."

"Today's announcement is another step in Treibacher's business development and continues our growth strategy," CFO Rainer Schmidtmayer said in a statement. "The acquisition of a global leading manufacturer of metal sulfides, located here in Carinthia, aligns with our long-term strategy to be an Austrian based innovative leader in high performance materials, providing high-quality products for differentiated markets worldwide."

The sale is subject to customary closing conditions and is expected to close by the end of 2015. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

BofA Merrill Lynch is acting as exclusive financial advisor to Albemarle in connection with this transaction.

About Albemarle
Albemarle Corporation, headquartered in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, is a premier specialty chemicals company with leading positions in attractive end markets around the world. With a broad customer reach and diverse end markets, Albemarle develops, manufactures and markets technologically advanced and high value added products, including lithium and lithium compounds, bromine and bromine derivatives, catalysts and surface treatment chemistries used in a wide range of applications including consumer electronics, flame retardants, metal processing, plastics, contemporary and alternative transportation vehicles, refining, pharmaceuticals, agriculture, construction and custom chemistry services. Albemarle is focused on delivering differentiated, performance-based technologies that deliver innovative and sustainable solutions to its customers. The Company employs approximately 6,900 people and serves customers in approximately 100 countries. Albemarle regularly posts information to www.albemarle.com, including notification of events, news, financial performance, investor presentations and webcasts, Regulation G reconciliations, SEC filings and other information regarding the Company, its businesses and the markets it serves.

About Treibacher Industrie AG
Treibacher Industrie AG, a privately owned enterprise, is an international company with over 100 years of experience in chemistry and metallurgy. At its headquarters in Althofen (Austria) and sites in Toronto (Canada), Shanghai (China), and Tokyo (Japan), Breitungen (Germany), Treibacher Industrie AG develops and manufactures ferro alloys for the steel and foundry industries, powders for the carbide industry, materials for high performance ceramics as well as fine chemicals and special alloys.

Treibacher employs approximately 780 people and is selling its products through its worldwide sales network in about 60 countries.

For further information please visit Treibacher's website: www.treibacher.com

"Safe Harbor" Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: Statements in this press release regarding Albemarle Corporation's business that are not historical facts are "forward-looking statements" that involve risks and uncertainties. For a discussion of such risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements, see "Risk Factors" in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K.

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SOURCE Albemarle Corporation