Koppers Completes Sale of U.K. Specialty Chemicals Business

News provided by

Sep 20, 2018, 07:00 ET

PITTSBURGH, Sept. 20, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Koppers Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Koppers Holdings Inc. (NYSE: KOP), announced today that it has completed the sale of its Specialty Chemicals business in the United Kingdom to ECO-Option (UK) Limited (ECO-Option). Koppers has transferred all shares in its Specialty Chemicals business to ECO-Option for an undisclosed consideration. The business under new ownership will trade as KSC (Port Clarence) Limited.

President and CEO Leroy M. Ball commented, "The divestiture of this business represents one more step in our broad restructuring plan that began in 2015 for our Carbon Material and Chemical segment. While the sale price and earnings contribution were not material, fully exiting production activities at the Port Clarence site that we sold in July 2016 is important to reducing future operational risk and re-focusing management on our long-term European manufacturing base located in Nyborg, Denmark. As always, we will continually look for ways to optimize our business portfolio while remaining focused on further strengthening our leadership position in wood treatment technologies."

Koppers previously announced the closure of its two U.K. tar distillation facilities in 2016 as part of its efforts to streamline the cost profile of its Carbon Materials and Chemicals business. As a result of this transaction, the company has fully exited a non-core business that processed commodity-based chemicals in Europe.

About Koppers

Koppers, with corporate headquarters in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, is an integrated global provider of treated wood products, wood treatment chemicals and carbon compounds. Our products and services are used in a variety of niche applications in a diverse range of end-markets, including the railroad, specialty chemical, utility, residential lumber, agriculture, aluminum, steel, rubber, and construction industries. Including our joint ventures, we serve our customers through a comprehensive global manufacturing and distribution network, with facilities located in North America, South America, Australasia, China and Europe. The stock of Koppers Holdings Inc. is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "KOP." For more information, visit our website at: www.koppers.com. Questions concerning investor relations should be directed to Ms. Quynh McGuire at 412 227 2049 or Mr. Michael Zugay at 412 227 2231.