COVINGTON, Ky., Aug. 28 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Ashland Inc. (NYSE:
ASH) today completed the closing of its previously announced agreement to
sell the stock of its wholly owned subsidiary, Ashland Paving And
Construction, Inc. ("APAC"), to Oldcastle Materials, Inc. The sale price of
$1.30 billion is subject to adjustments for changes in working capital and
certain other accounts from Sept. 30, 2005, until closing. After-tax
proceeds, pre-adjustment, are estimated to total $1.25 billion.
(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20040113/ASHLANDLOGO )
"Today, Ashland completed a major step in our multiyear transformation
into a diversified chemical company," said James J. O'Brien, Ashland's
chairman and chief executive officer. "We will now focus on growing our
businesses, both organically and through acquisitions, while establishing a
top-quartile cost structure, in order to generate long-term value for
Ashland's shareholders."
Ashland Inc. (NYSE: ASH), a diversified, global chemical company,
provides quality products, services and solutions to customers in more than
100 countries. A FORTUNE 500 company, it operates through four wholly owned
divisions: Ashland Performance Materials, Ashland Distribution, Valvoline
and Ashland Water Technologies. To learn more about Ashland, visit
http://www.ashland.com.
Fortune 500 is a registered trademark of Time Inc.
Forward-Looking Statements
This news release contains forward-looking statements within the
meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934. These statements include those that refer
to Ashland's operating performance and expectations about the APAC
transaction, including those statements that refer to the expected benefits
of the transaction. Although Ashland believes its expectations are based on
reasonable assumptions, it cannot assure the expectations reflected herein
will be achieved. The risks, uncertainties and assumptions include the
possibility that Ashland will be unable to fully realize the benefits
anticipated from the transaction, and other risks that are described from
time to time in the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) reports of
Ashland. Other factors and risks affecting Ashland are contained in
Ashland's Form 10-K, as amended, for the fiscal year ended Sept. 30, 2005,
filed with the SEC and available on Ashland's Investor Relations website at
http://www.ashland.com/investors or the SEC's website at http://www.sec.gov. Ashland
undertakes no obligation to subsequently update or revise the
forward-looking statements made in this news release to reflect events or
circumstances after the date of this release.
SOURCE Ashland Inc.
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Related links:
http://www.ashland.com
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AP Archive: http://photoarchive.ap.org
PRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.com
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CONTACT:
Media, Jim Vitak, +1-614-790-3715, or
jevitak@ashland.com, or Investors, Daragh Porter,
+1-859-815-3825, or dlporter@ashland.com, both of Ashland Inc.
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