Nalco sells performance products group

26 January 2011 – NAPERVILLE, ILL. – Nalco (NYSE: NLC), providing essential expertise for water, energy and air, announced today it has sold its Performance Products Group (PPG) to The Lubrizol Corporation for US$166 million.

“Our personal care business is more product oriented than service oriented and not a strategic fit with our emphasis on providing sustainability services for industrial water, energy and air applications,” said Nalco Chairman and Chief Executive Officer J. Erik Fyrwald. “Lubrizol is a well-respected industry leader with a strong commitment to the personal care industry, which is more of an advantage for that business. This sale allows Nalco to more closely concentrate on the industrial and institutional markets that are the core of our business.”

Nalco sold certain assets to Lubrizol as part of the transaction, excluding any assets relating to the Nalco supply chain. Nalco will also continue to supply certain products to Lubrizol relating to the personal care business.

About Nalco

Nalco is the world’s largest sustainability services company focused on industrial water, energy and air applications; delivering significant environmental, social and economic performance benefits to our customers. We help our customers reduce energy, water and other natural resource consumption, enhance air quality, minimize environmental releases and improve productivity and end products while boosting the bottom line. Together our comprehensive solutions contribute to the sustainable development of customer operations. Nalco is a member of the Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes. More than 11,500 Nalco employees operate in 150 countries supported by a comprehensive network of manufacturing facilities, sales offices and research centers to serve a broad range of end markets. In 2009, Nalco achieved sales of more than $3.7 billion. For more information visit www.nalco.com.