The Valence Group Announces its Fourth Chemicals M&A Transaction of 2011 After Advising PolyOne Corp (NYSE: POL) on the Sale of its SunBelt Investment

NEW YORK, March 1, 2011 /PRNewswire/ --

The Valence Group announces that it has advised PolyOne Corp (NYSE: POL) on the successful sale of its 50% interest in SunBelt Chlor Alkali Partnership to Olin Corporation.

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SunBelt, a chlor alkali manufacturer, is a 50/50 joint venture formed in 1996 between PolyOne (formerly The Geon Company) and Olin. PolyOne's stake in SunBelt was sold to Olin for $175 million, including $132 million in cash and the assumption of PolyOne's guarantee of $43 million of SunBelt debt, with an additional earn out over the next three years if certain performance metrics are achieved. "I am pleased with the completion of this strategic win/win transaction for both Olin and PolyOne," said Stephen D. Newlin, chairman, president and chief executive officer of PolyOne. "I would like to thank Olin for the many years of cooperative partnership we have enjoyed together and wish them well as they integrate SunBelt into their operations." Newlin added, "For PolyOne, the sale of SunBelt represents another step in our transformation and portfolio repositioning as we intend to use the proceeds to accelerate specialty platform growth."

Mr. Newlin added: "I would also like to thank The Valence Group for their support and counsel on this transaction. They are a highly valued M&A adviser to PolyOne, we have worked with the principals of The Valence Group in the past (most notably on the GLS acquisition) and we look forward to working with them in the future as we grow our specialties businesses."

Telly Zachariades, Partner, commented: "PolyOne is a core and long-standing client. We are very grateful for the opportunity to work with such an outstanding management team."

Joshua Hay, Partner, added: "This transaction, our fourth so far in 2011 and our ninth in the past twelve months, clearly highlights The Valence Group's position as the leading M&A advisor to the global chemicals and materials sector."

About PolyOne

PolyOne Corporation, with 2010 revenues of $2.6 billion, is a premier provider of specialized polymer materials, services and solutions. Headquartered outside of Cleveland, Ohio USA, PolyOne has operations around the world.

About The Valence Group

The Valence Group is a specialist M&A boutique offering advisory services exclusively to companies and investors in the chemicals, materials and related sectors. The firm has developed broad and deep transactional expertise: sell-side, buy-side, joint venture, private companies, public offers, corporate carve-outs, LBOs and management buy-outs. The founders and senior members of The Valence Group collectively have more than 130 years of transactional experience gained both at major investment banks and within chemical companies. The firm's offices are located in London, New York and Shanghai.

http://www.valencegroup.com