PolyOne Reaches Agreement to Sell Non-Core Resin Assets for $250 Million

CLEVELAND, March 25, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- PolyOne Corporation (NYSE: POL), a premier provider of specialized polymer materials, services and solutions, announced it has entered into an agreement in which the company will sell its vinyl dispersion, blending and suspension resin assets to Mexichem, S.A.B. de C.V. for $250 million in cash.  The sale is subject to satisfaction of regulatory requirements and other customary closing conditions. 

PolyOne's resin assets are part of its Performance Products and Solutions segment and generated revenues of $147 million in 2012. 

"Since we began our specialty transformation, we have divested commodity equity investments including Oxy Vinyls in 2007 and SunBelt in 2011 and reinvested the proceeds to accelerate the growth of our specialty offerings," said Stephen D. Newlin, chairman, president and chief executive officer, PolyOne Corporation.  "As our only remaining business involved in the direct manufacture of base resins, we view the sale of our resin production assets as a natural and next step in the evolution of our portfolio." 

The pending sale's impact to PolyOne earnings in 2013 is dependent on numerous factors, including timing of the transaction's close.  It is anticipated that dilution on an annualized basis will be approximately $0.22 per share.

"While the sale is dilutive to earnings in the near term, we remain committed to our 2015 earnings target of $2.50 per share.  We believe it is in the best interests of our customers, associates and our shareholders to focus on our core competence of material science formulation for specialty applications, rather than base resin production.  This is entirely consistent with our mix improvement strategy which has delivered substantial shareholder value over the last five years," Mr. Newlin added.

Mix Shift Improvement

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POL Share Price 2008-Present

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"Mexichem is a proven leader and has substantial expertise in base resin manufacturing.  We believe they will be able to more fully unlock the potential of our resin production assets, and we look forward to working with them in the future as a supplier," said Mr. Newlin.

About PolyOne

PolyOne Corporation, with 2012 revenues of $3.0 billion, is a premier provider of specialized polymer materials, services and solutions. The company is dedicated to serving customers in diverse industries around the globe, by creating value through collaboration, innovation and an unwavering commitment to excellence.  Guided by its Core Values, Sustainability Promise and No Surprises Pledge^SM, PolyOne is committed to its customers, employees, communities and stockholders through ethical, sustainable and fiscally responsible principles.  For more information, visit www.polyone.com.

To access PolyOne's news library online, please visit www.polyone.com/news

Cautionary Note on Forward-Looking Statements

This document contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements give current expectations or forecasts of future events and are not guarantees of future performance.  They are based on management's expectations that involve a number of business risks and uncertainties, any of which could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in or implied by the forward-looking statements.  They use words such as "will," "anticipate," "estimate," "expect," "project," "intend," "plan," "believe," and other words and terms of similar meaning in connection with any discussion of future operating or financial condition, performance and/or sales.  Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those implied by these forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to: the time required to consummate the proposed divestiture; the satisfaction or waiver of conditions in the sale agreement; any material adverse changes in the business supporting the resin assets being sold; the ability to obtain required regulatory or other third-party approvals and consents and otherwise consummate the proposed divestiture; our ability to achieve the strategic and other objectives relating to the acquisition of Spartech Corporation, including any expected synergies; our ability to successfully integrate Spartech and achieve the expected results of the acquisition, including, without limitation, the acquisition being accretive; disruptions, uncertainty or volatility in the credit markets that could adversely impact the availability of credit already arranged and the availability and cost of credit in the future; the financial condition of our customers, including the ability of customers (especially those that may be highly leveraged and those with inadequate liquidity) to maintain their credit availability; the speed and extent of an economic recovery, including the recovery of the housing market; our ability to achieve new business gains; the effect on foreign operations of currency fluctuations, tariffs, and other political, economic and regulatory risks; changes in polymer consumption growth rates where we conduct business; changes in global industry capacity or in the rate at which anticipated changes in industry capacity come online; fluctuations in raw material prices, quality and supply and in energy prices and supply; production outages or material costs associated with scheduled or unscheduled maintenance programs; unanticipated developments that could occur with respect to contingencies such as litigation and environmental matters; an inability to achieve or delays in achieving or achievement of less than the anticipated financial benefit from initiatives related to working capital reductions, cost reductions, and employee productivity goals; an inability to raise or sustain prices for products or services; an inability to maintain appropriate relations with unions and employees; the inability to achieve expected results from our acquisition activities; our ability to continue to pay cash dividends; the amount and timing of repurchases of our common shares, if any; and other factors affecting our business beyond our control, including, without limitation, changes in the general economy, changes in interest rates and changes in the rate of inflation.  The above list of factors is not exhaustive.

We undertake no obligation to publicly update forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.  You are advised to consult any further disclosures we make on related subjects in our reports on Form 10-Q, 8-K and 10-K that we provide to the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Financial Measure (Unaudited)
(In millions)

Below is a reconciliation of non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable measures calculated and presented in accordance with U.S. GAAP.

SOURCE PolyOne Corporation