Ferro Acquires Portions of dmc² from OMG

Ferro recently announced that it has signed an agreement to acquire certain dmc² businesses from OMG.

Ferro Corp. recently announced that it has signed an agreement to acquire certain dmc² businesses from OM Group, Inc. (OMG) of Cleveland, Ohio. Under the terms of the agreement, Ferro would purchase the electronic materials, performance pigments, glass systems and Cerdec ceramics businesses of dmc² for 600 million euros in cash (approximately $540 million). Annual sales for these businesses was approximately $520 million in 2000 and EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) was approximately $58 million, excluding certain non-recurring items. Ferro plans to finance the transaction with a new bank credit facility. The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter, subject to the necessary regulatory approvals, and following OMG¿s acquisition of dmc².

Hector R. Ortino, chairman and chief executive officer of Ferro, said, "This major acquisition is consistent with our strategic plan for growth and accelerates our execution of that plan in a number of ways. It helps us achieve our stated goal to build a core electronic materials business and builds on the TAM Ceramics and EMCA-Remex acquisitions made within the past two years. The resulting electronics business will have greater scale, broader technology and increased geographic scope. The transaction also strengthens our global position in glazes and colors for the worldwide ceramic markets and builds a stronger position for us in specialty colors. The businesses being acquired complement Ferro's existing businesses and will lead to significant synergies during a three-year integration plan. We expect the transaction to be mildly dilutive to earnings per share in the first full year, slightly accretive in year two and to add significantly to earnings per share thereafter."

Ferro management held a conference call on April 25 that will be archived on the investor relations page of the company¿s website.

For more information, call (216) 875-7155 or visit http://www.ferro.com.