Released on January 11, 2008

When the proposed acquisition of metalcasting supplier Foseco, Cleveland, by the Cookson Group, London, was announced on Oct. 11, 2007, the sale was conditional on receipt of anti-trust clearances in the U.S. and European Union. The two companies now have completed a sale that could make that clearance more attainable.

Materials science company Cookson and Foseco have agreed to sell Foseco’s carbon bonded ceramics business to companies owned by RHI AG, Vienna, Austria. The business had revenues of approximately $38 million for the year ended Dec. 31, 2006, and gross assets of approximately $17.5 million as of that date. The business unit operates manufacturing plants in Scotland and the U.S.

Completion of the transaction is conditional on the acquisition of Foseco by Cookson, among other things. According to Cookson officials, progress in the proposed acquisition of Foseco continues on the previously announced timeline, which indicated the sale would be completed in the first half of 2008. The two companies hope to obtain anti-trust clearance by the end of March.