Exhibit 99.1
GEON EXPANDS COMPOUND PRESENCE IN ASIA PACIFIC
Cleveland, Ohio — April 27, 2000 — The Geon Company (NYSE: GON) announced today
it has agreed in principle to purchase a 50 percent interest in the polyvinyl
chloride (PVC) compound business of Thai Plastic & Chemicals Public Company
Limited (TPC). The transaction has been approved by both boards of directors
and, subject to negotiation of documents, is expected to close in early July.
A joint venture, TPC-Geon Company, Limited, will manufacture and market PVC
compounds to customers in the ASEAN Pact countries of Southeast Asia, the
People’s Republic of China, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan. ASEAN Pact countries
include Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Laos,
Myanmar, Brunei and Cambodia.
The joint venture will include TPC’s compound plant in Bangkok, Thailand – and,
when Vietnamese government approval is obtained – TPC’s interest in a
single-line PVC compound joint venture based in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
TPC-Geon will manufacture PVC compounds, including TPC and Geon proprietary
products, and offer a broad range of products for applications such as wire and
cable jacketing, pipe fittings, bottles, cap liner and integrated circuit
tubes.
“Thai Plastic & Chemicals represents an excellent partner for Geon as we grow
our presence in Southeast Asia and China,” said Thomas A. Waltermire, Geon
chairman and chief executive officer. “TPC brings excellent market knowledge
and good operating practices that are important to the success of the joint
venture.
“This alliance, along with the joint venture we established last year covering
the Andean Pact countries of South America, and our long-standing joint
ventures in England and Singapore, demonstrates Geon’s resolve to establish a
global presence to leverage our technology and serve our customers wherever
they may choose to operate,” Waltermire added.
TPC-Geon is expected initially to have annual sales of about $30 million. The
joint venture should be immediately accretive to Geon earnings by about $0.03
per share annually.
Geon’s other joint venture in Southeast Asia, SPC/Geon, will continue to
manufacture and market Geon’s custom injection molding grade of PVC compounds,
primarily for customers in the ASEAN Pact nations.
Thai Plastic’s sales for 1999 totaled $270 million. TPC produces PVC resins
and has joint ventures with a number of multi-national partners, including Siam
Cement, the OxyChem division of Occidental Petroleum Corporation and Mitsui &
Co. TPC has another PVC compounding joint venture with Riken Thailand Limited
that sells automotive wire harness and medical compounds to Japanese customers
in Thailand.
The Geon Company is a leading North American-based polymer services and
technology company with operations in vinyl compounds, specialty vinyl resins
and formulations, engineered films, and other value-added products and
services. Headquartered in Avon Lake, Ohio, The Geon Company and its
subsidiaries employ more than 3,200 people and have 30 manufacturing plants in
the United States, Canada, England and Australia, and joint ventures in the
United States, Canada, England, Australia, Singapore and Colombia. Information
on the Company’s products and services, as well as news releases, EDGAR
filings, Form 10-K, 10-Q, etc. is available on the Internet at
http://www.geon.com.
Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995
This release contains statements concerning trends and other forward-looking
information affecting or relating to the Company and its industry that are
intended to qualify for the protections afforded “forward-looking statements”
under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Actual results
could differ materially from such statements for a variety of factors
including, but not limited to: (1) fluctuations in raw material prices and
supply, in particular fluctuations outside the normal range of industry cycles;
(2) unanticipated changes in world, regional or U.S. PVC consumption growth
rates affecting the Company’s markets; (3) unanticipated costs or difficulties
in the operation of the joint venture entities.
