Solvay and Arkema untie joint ventures

Solvay announced on June 25 that SolVin and Arkema have decided to each buy back the minority cross-holdings in the vinyls production joint ventures that are operated by them. The companies in question are VinylFos, in which SolVin has a stake of 21%, VinylBerre (35%) and Vinilis (65%). These decisions will become effective on July 1, 2010. Vinilis, based in Martorell, Spain, and operated by SolVin has a yearly capacity of 270,000 tonnes of PVC. After untying these joint ventures, SolVin will become the sole shareholder of Vinilis and Arkema the sole shareholder of VinylFos and VinylBerre in France. After many years of productive cooperation, these operations will return the independence on their respective historic suites to both partners. This way they will be able to deploy autonomously their strategic industrial plans. These operations have no social impact and their consequences on Solvay Group's cash flow and results are not material.