Albemarle, Rockwood chemical merger approved
11/14/2014 12:00:00 AM
Albemarle Corp. and Rockwood Holdings announced that shareholders from both companies approved the proposals relating to Albemarle's acquisition of Rockwood at their respective special meetings held earlier today.
"We are pleased with the support from both Albemarle and Rockwood shareholders, which reaffirms the strategic merits of this combination and represents another important step in creating a premier specialty chemicals company," said Luke Kissam, Albemarle's president and CEO.
"We are fully focused on the integration planning process to combine our companies and enable us to better serve customers and end markets around the world and deliver long-term value to shareholders," he added.
At Rockwood's special meeting, Rockwood shareholders approved the adoption of the agreement and plan of merger, pursuant to which a wholly-owned subsidiary of Albemarle will merge with and into Rockwood with Rockwood becoming a wholly-owned subsidiary of Albemarle.
"I want to give my appreciation and thanks to our shareholders for their continued support and Rockwood's employees for all their hard work and focus as we move closer to completing this transaction," said Robert J. Zatta, Rockwood's CEO.
"We are very excited about the portfolio combination of these complementary global leading businesses, which we expect will deliver outstanding benefits and growth potential for employees, customers and shareholders of both companies for many years to come," he added.
As previously announced on July 15, the boards of directors of both Albemarle and Rockwood approved a definitive agreement under which Albemarle will acquire each outstanding share of Rockwood common stock for $50.65 in cash and 0.4803 of a share of Albemarle common stock.
On November 13, Albemarle received regulatory clearance for the transaction from the European Commission. The transaction, which is expected to close in the first quarter of 2015, remains subject to the satisfaction of the closing conditions set forth in the merger agreement, including regulatory approvals in China.
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