Ashland to buy Northwest Coatings

The Business Journal of Milwaukee - Monday, October 30, 2006

Northwest Coatings L.L.C., an Oak Creek supplier of adhesives and coatings for the printing, packaging, converting and industrial markets, has agreed to be purchased by global specialty chemical company Ashland Inc.

The deal is valued at $72 million and includes Northwest Coatings' plants in Oak Creek and Greensboro, N.C. The transaction is expected to close before the end of the year.
Northwest Coatings is a holding of Caltius Equity Partners, a Los Angeles private equity firm. Its sales for the last 12 months were nearly $40 million. Milwaukee investment bank Grace Matthews advised Northwest Coating on the transaction.

Northwest manufactures adhesives and coatings employing ultraviolet and electron beam polymerization technologies. The addition is expected to strengthen Ashland's adhesive and coatings offerings to the packaging, converting and labeling markets, said Marcello Boldrini, vice president, Ashland Performance Materials, and general manager, Specialty Polymers & Adhesives.
Ashland Specialty Polymers & Adhesives is a global manufacturer of pressure-sensitive and structural adhesives for the packaging and converting, building and construction, and transportation industries.
Covington, Ky.-based Ashland Inc. (NYSE: ASH) is a diversified, global chemical company with customers in more than 100 countries.