Quadrant

It all started in 1946, when we invented and then patented the first process for extruding nylon stock shapes for machining. Since that time we have built the broadest line of materials that design engineers and product developers have come to count on. The industry we created gives designers more flexibility and design possibilities by producing shapes that can easily be machined into parts. Quadrant assists engineers in selecting the optimum material for their application. How? View the Service and Support section or contact our Technical Support Team to find out.

Quadrant Engineering Plastic Products is unique in its ability to serve all major regional markets in the world. Our unmatched - and ongoing - investment in production and logistics sites around the globe solidifies our commitment to world-class service, quality and market development for engineering plastics for machining. Our range of process technology includes casting, extrusion, compression and molding to deliver the widest range of engineering plastics shapes materials in the market. Our relationships with the highest precision, experienced fabrication anywhere in the world can help you find a finish machined part that utilizes all of the quality benefits built into our shapes. View the Fabrication section to find out how shapes become a part.

Quadrant Engineering Plastic Products' branding program integrates our products under a unified set of tradenames regionally and globally. This provides a clear and consistent identification of all products, and makes them available through all distributor and fabricator partners worldwide.

Our teams of technical service and application development engineers are based in all major Quadrant Engineering Plastic Products' locations. Their sole mission is to help equipment manufacturers and machinists get the full performance benefits and cost efficiency from our materials. Quadrant Engineering Plastic Products has also invested in complete test facilities and the best technical data both in print and on the worldwide web to support our customers on material selection.

A brief chronology:

Products

POLYOLEFIN PRODUCTS：

		TIVAR® Family
		Sanalite®
		Proteus® Family
		Armor-X
		Corzan®
		Borotron® HD050
		HDPE
		LDPE
		PVC
		QuickSilver® Truck Liners
		Unit Material Handling Components
		SystemTIVAR® Engineering
		Polyolefin MSDS's

GENERAL PURPOSE PLASTIC PRODUCTS

		Extruded and Cast Nylons
		Acetals
		Ertalyte® PET-P
		Specialty Capabilities
		General Purpose MSDS's

ADVANCED ENGINEERING PLASTIC PRODUCTS

		PC 1000 Polycarbonate
		PSU 1000 Polysulfone
		Radel® R Polyphenylsulfone
		Ultem® PEI
		Fluorosint®
		Techtron® Quadrant PPS
		Ketron® PEEK
		Torlon® PAI
		Celazole® PBI
		Semitron® Semiconductor Grade Products
		Symalit® PVDF
		Symalit® ECTFE
		Advanced Engineering MSDS's

January 19, 2001

Quadrant Holding Acquires DSM Engineering Plastic Products

Quadrant Holding (Zurich, Switzerland) and DSM N.V. (Heerlen, The Netherlands) have reached agreement (1/18/01) on the acquisition of DSM's global Engineering Plastic Products (EPP) business group with the retro-active date of January 1, 2001. DSM Engineering Plastic Products, which manufactures engineering plastic stock shapes and finished products for a variety of industrial markets, has operations in 16 countries and employs 1,085 people. EPP's North American headquarters is located in Reading and its European headquarters in Tielt, Belgium. The takeover by Quadrant Holding will have no direct consequences for the business group's employees.

"This acquisition is a major strategic step in the relatively short history of our company," says Arno Schenk, Deputy Chairman of the Board of Directors of Quadrant Holding. "EPP forms an excellent industrial fit with Symalit, our successful advanced plastics business featuring fluoroplastics. Thanks to this acquisition, Quadrant will gain a leading position in this growth market, a position we plan to expand further. We expect that our composites business will also benefit from the new in-ternational platform and EPP's excellent know-how in the fields of advanced plastics and applied process technology."

"Last September DSM announced its intention to focus on specialties in the fields of life science products and performance materials," says Ben van Kooten, director of DSM EPP. "Engineering plastic stock shapes and finished components (Plastic Processing) - the field in which Engineering Plastic Products is active - fits much better in Quadrant's strategy than in that of DSM, which is busy transforming itself into a specialties company. We are convinced that the future interests of all stakeholders, including customers and employees, are best served by this acquisition by Quadrant."

Glen Steady, president of EPP North America and Chris Mulder, president of European operations agreed, "This is an exciting development. We have just finished the best year in the history of our company in terms of financial performance and sales growth and this change is seen as a move which will allow us to stay on our strategic path and bring accelerated growth. Our new parent has a strategy to grow on a worldwide basis in our focus area of performance materials and is eager for us to help them do so in the North American market. This marks Quadrant's first move into this region and we are delighted to be their focal point here. This is a total endorsement for our proven strategy, our employees and our communities."

The Engineering Plastic Products (EPP) Group was formed by DSM in 1989, by acquiring and combining several of the world's largest regional plastic shapes manufacturers, including Polymer Corporation and Erta NV. Today, the group has 16 sites located around the globe and has become the world's largest producer of engineering plastic machining stock. DSM EPP's products range from nylon and acetal to ultra-high performance polymers that resist temperatures to over 800 F while maintaining strength and stability. The shapes are used mainly for bearing and wear resistant components in a variety of industries from electronics to packaging equipment and are backed by a global team of development engineers and technical support personnel. EPP had ex-panded its Reading facility in mid-2000 by acquiring the Torlon/Kadel Parts division of BP Amoco Polymers, based in Atlanta, GA. This acquisition positioned EPP as a major supplier of shapes used in severe service seals and components used primarily in turbo compressors. All of EPP's shapes are machined into precision-tolerance finished parts. Their material's inherent ability to resist frictional and corrosive wear and hold dimensions at high temperatures and loads allow them to outperform and outlast many metals. Improving the performance of high-tech industrial equipment by replacing traditional materials is EPP's mission.

Quadrant
Quadrant Holding is a Swiss holding company listed on the Swiss Stock Exchange (SWX). Major shareholders are the company's management and first-class Swiss institutional investors. Thanks to several industrial acquisitions in the past four years, Quadrant has developed into a large plastics processing group. Its major business is Symalit 熱可塑性フッ素樹脂素材, which specializes in products for the automotive industry. Its GMT composites (glass-mat reinforced thermoplastics), which are produced in Switzerland and in Germany, are increasingly replacing metallic parts. Symalit also extrudes advanced engineering semi-finished and finished products from fluoroplastics. Other activities of Quadrant are in the field of general contracting. In total, Quadrant has sales of some $240 million and employs 400 people.

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March 25, 2000

DSM Engineering Plastic Products Acquires BP Amoco's Amotech Compression Molding Operations

To build on its growing position in high performance materials, DSM Engineering Plastic Products (DSM EPP) North America has acquired the Torlon^® polyamide-imide (PAI) compression molding assets of BP Amoco's Amotech Performance Plastics, Inc. The move broadens DSM's line of engineering plastic stock shapes for machining, and the applications they serve.

DSM EPP, formerly The Polymer Corporation, is part of DSM Performance Materials Group and the world's largest producer of engineering plastic machining stock. DSM EPP's products are used mainly for bearing and wear resistant components in a variety of industries from electronics to packaging equipment.

The Torlon/Kadel Parts business of BP Amoco Polymers, based in Atlanta, GA, pioneered the use of compression-molded Torlon PAI shapes in severe service seals and components used primarily in turbo compressors. The shapes are machined into precision-tolerance finished parts. Their inherent ability to resist frictional and corrosive wear and hold dimensions at high temperatures and loads allow them to outperform and outlast many metals.

DSM EPP has been the primary producer and marketer of BP Amoco's Torlon PAI resins in extruded rod and plate stock forms. The Torlon PAI products are a major part of the company's broad line of engineering plastic shapes, which range from acetal and nylon to ultra-high performance polyimides that resist temperatures to over 500 F.

The acquisition of the Torlon stock shapes manufacturing assets further strengthens DSM EPP's position as the leading producer of high-performance products. In 1996, the company acquired Texas-based Alpha Precision Plastics, also a compression molder of high-performance materials. Alpha's capabilities allowed DSM to develop new materials used for precision components in the semiconductor and oil drilling and refining industries. New Torlon products include electrostatic dissipative and conductive grades of Torlon, as well as materials used worldwide in semiconductor wafer and chip production equipment.

According to Earl Wester, DSM EPP's director of global market development, "The Amotech manufacturing capabilities expand our product and application range, and fully complement our global marketing strategy for growth in high-performance materials. The Torlon products offer many benefits over metals, including longer service life under extreme temperatures and loads. The Amotech team has already opened the door with successes in damage- and wear-resistant seals and components that improve production efficiency in large turbo-compressors and pumps. Our business development engineers around the world can now translate the benefits of these products into new applications at a much faster pace."

Daryl Brace, general manager of BP Amoco's Torlon/Kadel^® parts business, says, "This is an excellent move for both companies, and for the customers using Torlon PAI compression molded shapes. This new capability at DSM will add significantly to DSM's ability to develop and service the demand for Torlon shapes. DSM EPP brings greater experience, coverage and focus to develop and service market demands for Torlon shapes in all regions of the world."

The two companies are working on the transition of production and customer service operations. Both the Amotech and Alpha operations will be consolidated into DSM's Reading facility, to centralize technology and improve competitiveness and worldwide service. The complete transfer is expected to be fully operational by May 1.

Glen Steady, president of DSM Engineering Plastic Products North America, says, "This move signals the beginning of what we expect to be a series of similar moves toward accelerating the growth of our company. This acquisition, and an accompanying decision to relocate other compression molding operations to Reading also shows our commitment to this area, and benefits the local community by adding jobs at this location. The Reading area has served us well over a long and successful history, first as The Polymer Corporation and now as DSM EPP. We plan to keep it as our center of North American operations. During the past two years, we have necessarily undergone restructuring of our company to position it for continued success as we move forward into the new millennium. This was a difficult period; it involved reductions in local operations to better focus on our core strengths. The task has now been completed, and our company is positioned for rapid and profitable growth as the global leader in our chosen area of business activity."

DSM Engineering Plastic Products is the world leader in the manufacture of engineering thermoplastics in rod, tube and plate for machining. Its products include electrostatic dissipative (ESD) grades and large custom nylon castings. The quality of products made by DSM Engineering Plastic Products is monitored statistically at critical stages of their manufacture. Full support in evaluating designs and machining of parts is available from DSM Engineering Plastic Products' Technical Support Group.

Acetron, Duraspin, Duratron, Ertalyte, Fluorosint, Ketron, MC, Nylatron, Polypenco, Semitron, and Techtron are registered trademarks of DSM Engineering Plastic Products. Registration of Nylasteel to DSM Engineering Plastic Products is pending. Torlon and Kadel are registered trademarks of Amoco Performance Plastics.