One Equity to buy Sud-Chemie.(GERMANY)

Nitrogen & Methanol, July, 2005

SC-Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH, Frankfurt am Main, a subsidiary of New York-based One Equity Partners, has reached agreement with the three main shareholders of Sud-Chemie AG (AZ-SDC Vermogensverwaltungsgesellschaft mbH--19%--Possehl Beteiligungsverwaltung GmbH--10%--and BLB-Beteiligungsgesellschaft Jota GmbH & Co.

KG Nr. 3-10%) on taking a 39% shareholding in the company at a price of [euro]35/share. In July, OEP intends to submit a voluntary takeover bid to all remaining shareholders based on the same price, aiming to acquire a simple majority in Sud-Chemie AG, subject to clearance by German federal financial regulatory authorities. Sud-Chemie AG recently reported a marked rise in its operating result (EBIT) to reach [euro]4.7m in 2004, compared to [euro]1.6m in 2003.