Chase Corporation Acquires Stewart Superabsorbents (SSA), LLC – Zappa Stewart

January 4, 2018

WESTWOOD, Mass.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Chase
Corporation (NYSE American: CCF) announced that it has
acquired Stewart Superabsorbents (SSA), LLC, an advanced superabsorbent
polymer (SAP) formulator and solutions provider, with operations located
in Hickory and McLeansville, NC. In the most recently completed calendar
year, SSA and its recently acquired Zappa-Tec business (collectively
“Zappa Stewart”) had combined revenue in excess of $24,000,000. Chase
expects this acquisition to be immediately accretive to its earnings.
The business was acquired for a purchase price of $71,382,000, net of
cash acquired, pending any working capital adjustments and excluding
acquisition-related costs. As part of this transaction, Chase acquired
all equity of the business and entered into multiyear leases at both
locations. The purchase was funded from a combination of a $65,000,000
draw on Chase’s existing revolving credit facility and available cash on
hand.

Adam P. Chase, President and Chief Executive Officer, commented,

“This is a highly complementary acquisition for Chase Corporation which
leverages our existing channels to industrial markets and allows us to
deliver more value to our customers. Zappa Stewart’s proven protective
materials technology is a great fit with our core strategy and extends
our reach into growing medical and consumer applications. Their North
Carolina operations will broaden our capabilities, and will add two
facilities near the three we already have in the region. The new
technologies and additional management talent will enhance our
cross-functional operating model, creating logical synergies and
value-creation opportunities.”

Quint Barefoot, Managing Partner of Zappa Stewart, commented,

“Our organization is excited to become part of the dynamic Chase team.
Becoming part of the Chase platform creates significant opportunities to
deploy proprietary polymer solutions across diverse market segments.
This increased scale and geographic reach for our specialty reagents
will generate new opportunities for our personnel, new perspectives and
sustainable growth. This could not happen at a more exciting time in our
markets, as we see heightened demand for our differentiated products
used in directional drilling, telecommunications, energy, infrastructure
and remediation projects.”

The transaction was effective December 31, 2017. Chase Corporation will
continue to manufacture and market under the Zappa Stewart brands and
locations, with plans to integrate Zappa Stewart into its ERP platform
in the coming months to further enhance existing operational,
development and engineering expertise. Zappa Stewart is a solutions
provider of specialty materials for water and liquid management,
remediation and protection in diverse markets including wire and cable,
medical, environmental, infrastructure, energy and consumer products.

Chase Corporation, founded in 1946, is a leading manufacturer of
protective materials for high reliability applications throughout the
world.

Certain statements in this press release are forward-looking. These may
be identified by the use of forward-looking words or phrases such as
“believe”; “expect”; “anticipate”; “should”; “planned”; “estimated” and
“potential,” among others. These forward-looking statements are based on
Chase Corporation’s current expectations. The Private Securities
Litigation Reform Act of 1995 provides a “safe harbor” for such
forward-looking statements. In order to comply with the terms of the
safe harbor, the Company cautions investors that any forward-looking
statements made by the Company are not guarantees of future performance
and that a variety of factors could cause the Company's actual results
and experience to differ materially from the anticipated results or
other expectations expressed in the Company's forward-looking
statements. The risks and uncertainties which may affect the operations,
performance, development and results of the Company's business include,
but are not limited to, the following: uncertainties relating to
economic conditions; uncertainties relating to customer plans and
commitments; the pricing and availability of equipment, materials and
inventories; technological developments; performance issues with
suppliers and subcontractors; economic growth; delays in testing of new
products; the Company’s ability to successfully integrate acquired
operations; the effectiveness of cost-reduction plans; rapid technology
changes and the highly competitive environment in which the Company
operates. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these
forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date the
statement was made.