GEO SPECIALTY CHEMICALS TO ACQUIRE RHODIA GALLIUM UNIT CLEVELAND, Aug. 6 /PRNewswire-AsiaNet/-- GEO SPECIALTY CHEMICALS, INC. recently announced that an agreement has been reached with Rhodia, the former chemical unit of Rhone-Poulenc, to acquire Rhodia's gallium business. The business is part of Rhodia's rare earth division, and provides various grades of gallium to the semi-conductor market for applications in optoelectronics (light emitting diodes) systems and telecommunications. The business has manufacturing facilities in Stade, Germany and Salindres, France, with management headquarters in Paris, France. Rhodia is the worldwide leader in gallium products for this market with annual sales of $20M. "This represents a platform acquisition for GEO's thrust into the high technology chemical field," said George Ahearn, GEO's CEO. "The company has sought acquisition opportunities in specialty metal-based markets for sometime and we intend to build around this acquisition and broaden the scope of our activities," he added. The acquisition is expected to be completed by early September. GEO Specialty Chemicals, founded in 1993, is headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio and has 14 manufacturing sites throughout the southeast, Pennsylvania, and Maryland. The company serves the specialty chemical needs of the construction, pulp and paper, coatings, oil field, and water treatment industries. GEO Specialty Chemicals, Inc. Milestones 1993 GEO Specialty Chemicals becomes a joint venture company of GEO Chemicals, Inc. and Key Equity Partners, an affiliate of Key Bank. GEO Specialty Chemicals acquires the Gulf Coast alum business of Rhone-Poulenc. 1994 GEO Specialty Chemicals acquires the assets of Courtney Industries, Inc. of Baltimore, a leading supplier of aluminum chloride solution (ACS), polyaluminum chloride (PAC), and aluminum chlorhydrate (ACH). The compounds are used in various industrial, paper and water treatment applications. 1996 GEO Specialty Chemicals acquires Cytec Industries' aluminum sulfate business. With the acquisition, GEO Specialty Chemicals becomes a major national supplier of alum and aluminum-based coagulants and floculants for water treatment applications and the paper industry. 1997 GEO Specialty Chemicals announces the acquisition of Henkel's North American paper chemicals and construction and processing chemicals operations. 1998 GEO Specialty Chemicals announces the acquisition of Mallinckrodt's TRIMET Technical Products Division, based in Allentown, PA. SOURCE GEO Specialty Chemicals, Inc. CONTACT: Edward M. Freshman of GEO Specialty Chemicals, 216-464-8336; or Edward Rojeck of Saifman, Richards & Associates for GEO Specialty Chemicals, 216-464-6660