Albemarle Announces Initiation of Consultation Process with Works Council At Its...

Albemarle Announces Initiation of Consultation Process with Works Council At
Its Facility in Port de Bouc, France

BATON ROUGE, La. and FRANKFURT, Germany, Oct. 23 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ --
Albemarle Corporation (NYSE: ALB) and International Chemical Investors Group
("ICIG") announced today that Albemarle Chemicals SAS, a wholly owned
affiliate of Albemarle Corporation, has initiated the consultation process
required by French law with the Works Council at its facility in Port de Bouc,
France related to the potential sale of the plant to ICIG. Under the proposed
terms, ICIG would acquire all equipment, buildings, land and certain other
assets at Port de Bouc, France, and ICIG would toll manufacture certain
products for Albemarle. Upon closing, Albemarle would expect to incur a pre-
tax charge of approximately $25 to $30 million.
(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20050801/ALBEMARLELOGO )
About Albemarle
Albemarle Corporation, headquartered in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, is a
leading global developer, manufacturer and marketer of highly engineered
specialty chemicals for consumer electronics; petroleum and petrochemical
processing; transportation and industrial products; pharmaceuticals;
agricultural products; and construction and packaging materials. The Company
operates in three business segments -- Polymer Additives, Catalysts and Fine
Chemicals, and serves customers in approximately 100 countries. Learn more
about Albemarle at http://www.albemarle.com.
About International Chemical Investors
International Chemical Investors Group is a privately held investment
company focusing on mid-sized chemicals businesses. Since inception in 2004,
ICIG has acquired 14 independent chemicals businesses with total sales of
approximately euro 600 million. Learn more about ICIG at
http://www.ic-investors.com.
"Safe Harbor" Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act
of 1995: Statements in this press release regarding Albemarle Corporation's
business which are not historical facts are "forward-looking statements" that
involve risks and uncertainties. For a discussion of such risks and
uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ from those contained
in the forward-looking statements, see "Risk Factors" in the Company's Annual
Report on Form 10-K.
SOURCE Albemarle Corporation

Investor Relations: Sandra Rodriguez, +1-225-388-7654,
Sandra_Rodriguez@albemarle.com; or Media: Stephanie Dixon, +1-225-388-7904,
Stephanie_Dixon@albemarle.com