Ansell Announces Intention to Purchase Comasec SAS Business

RICHMOND, Australia, August 7, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

Ansell Limited (ASX:ANN), a global leader in protective solutions, has today announced its intention to acquire Comasec SAS, subject to regulatory approval. Comasec, which is headquartered in Gennevilliers, just north of Paris, France is a global leader in industrial hand protection solutions and has the capacity to manufacture over 200 million pairs of gloves annually. It has manufacturing plants in Malaysia and Portugal and employs over 1,200 people. The acquisition of Comasec will help strengthen Ansell's position in the rapidly growing but fragmented $7bn industrial hand protection market. It will also significantly enhance Ansell's presence in a number of important verticals including mechanical, chemical, food and utilities.

Ansell's CEO, Magnus Nicolin commented, "Comasec's business is a strong fit strategically for our Industrial and Specialty Markets Global Business Unit (GBU). Comasec's products and solutions significantly enhance Ansell's presence in the mechanical, chemical, food and utilities verticals globally. Leveraging the strengths of both organisations will also provide Ansell with significant economies of scale in the areas of sales, marketing, supply chain and manufacturing. We are looking forward to integrating Comasec's products and the well-known brands Comasec, Marigold Industrial and Marigold into Ansell's hand protection brand portfolio alongside our industrial brands, HyFlex®, AlphaTec® and TouchNTuff®. There are strong product portfolio synergies between both businesses that will be leveraged in emerging markets, in the US and to further strengthen our market position in EMEA. We believe that this acquisition is a positive development for the industrial hand protection market. A combined Ansell and Comasec will provide an increased choice of solutions and products for end users, drive innovation and provide significant opportunities for suppliers."

Pascal Berend, Comasec's owner and CEO, said, "Since its founding by my father in 1948, Comasec/Marigold has developed very successfully as a family-owned group in PPE.  With China's entry into the WTO and the acquisitions in recent years of many independent PPE players by major multinationals, I am pleased that Comasec is joining forces with Ansell, the recognized world leader in protective gloves. This combination will generate many opportunities to accelerate growth and innovation while continuing to provide quality products and services to our customers."

We expect the transaction to close in the coming months and over several years Ansell will integrate both businesses, giving customers of Ansell and Comasec access to a more diverse product portfolio and increased choice of products and solutions. Both companies will also benefit from synergies in the area of Research and Development and Comasec's superior IT platform will enhance the speed of response to customer orders across Ansell's Industrial GBU.

Through the integration programme Ansell will actively focus on bringing together the best of both organisations for the benefit of the combined customer base. This will include enhanced structures for ordering and billing as well as innovative new products and solutions that combine the expertise of both companies.

Ansell is a world leader in providing superior health and safety protection solutions that enhance human well being. With operations in North America, Latin America/Caribbean, EMEA and Asia, Ansell employs more than 10,000 people worldwide and holds leading positions in the personal protective equipment and medical gloves markets, as well as in the sexual health and well being category worldwide. Ansell operates in four main business segments: Medical Solutions, Industrial Solutions, Specialty Markets, and Sexual Wellness. Information on Ansell and its products can be found at http://www.ansell.com.