Tokyo May 23, 2013: Shin-Etsu Chemical Co., Ltd. (Shin-Etsu Chemical, Head Office: Tokyo, President: Shunzo Mori) has acquired the total shares indirectly held by General Electric Company (GE, Head Office: Connecticut, Chairman and CEO: Jeffery R. Immelt) of Asia Silicones Monomer Limited (ASM, Head Office: Rayong, Thailand, President: Hiroyuki Kobayashi), which had been jointly managed by GE and Shin-Etsu. As of May 17, 2013, ASM became an indirectly wholly owned Shin-Etsu Chemical Group company. Shin-Etsu Chemical acquired the shares for about 15 billion.


Shin-Etsu Chemical and the GE Group established ASM in 2001 as a 50/50 joint venture. Then, in 2006 GE sold their silicone business, GE Advanced Materials, to Apollo Management, L.P. (Head Office: New York); however, GE has continued to hold its shares in ASM, and up to the present, it has managed ASM together with Shin-Etsu Chemical.


The aim of Shin-Etsu Chemical in making ASM a 100%-owned Shin-Etsu Group company is to further integrate the operations of ASM with those of Shin-Etsu Silicones (Thailand) Limited (SEST, Head Office: Rayong, Thailand, President: Hajime Tomisato), which manufactures and sells silicone end-products. By these means, Shin-Etsu will expand its business in the Asian region by optimizing the efficiency of its silicone business operations in Thailand.

For inquires about this matter, please contact:
Shin-Etsu Chemical Co., Ltd.
Public Relations Dept.
Tetsuya Koishikawa
Tel: 03-3246-5091, or from outside Japan: 81-3-3246-5091
Fax: 03-3246-5096, or from outside Japan: 81-3-3246-5096
e-mail: sec-pr@shinetsu.jp
www.shinetsu.co.jp
distributed by