ICL Completes $1b Sale of Its Fire Safety and Oil Additives Businesses

TEL AVIV, Israel, March 28, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --  ICL (NYSE: ICL) (TASE: ICL), a leading global Specialty Minerals and Advanced Crop Nutrition company, announced that it completed the sale of its Fire Safety and Oil Additives businesses to SK Capital. Net consideration from the sale after adjustments and divestment fees, amounted to approximately $1 billion. ICL expects to record a capital gain of about $840 million in Q1 2018.

The Fire Safety and Oil Additives businesses sold by ICL to SK Capital are global leaders in their respective markets with advanced technologies and state-of-the-art service operations. Nevertheless, these businesses had low synergies with ICL's core mineral chains and exhausted their contribution potential as part of the Company.  

ICL's Executive Chairman, Mr. Johanan Locker, stated, "This transaction is in line with ICL's strategy to divest low synergy businesses, to focus on our core mineral chains and to expand in advanced agriculture solutions. ICL intends to use the sale proceeds to immediately reduce its debt and create resources to realize growth opportunities in light of our strategy."

ICL's Acting CEO, Mr. Asher Grinbaum, stated, "The closing of this transaction is a key milestone in ICL's efforts to stabilize the Company and solidify its financial position, setting the stage for the implementation of our new strategy. The timely execution of this transaction reflects the Company's ability to take action and implement our strategy in a rapid and efficient manner. I would also like to express my sincere appreciation to our long-time employees for their substantial contribution over the years to these businesses as part of ICL and wish them much success in the future under SK Capital."   

Bank of America Merrill Lynch acted as exclusive financial advisor and Latham & Watkins acted as legal advisor to ICL. 

For more information related to the transaction, including pro-forma financial data as at December 31, 2017, please refer to pages 7-12 of ICL's 2017 Annual Report on Form 20-F filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on March 7, 2018.        

About ICL

ICL is a global manufacturer of products based on specialty minerals that fulfill humanity's essential needs primarily in three markets: agriculture, food and engineered materials. ICL shares are dual listed on the New York Stock Exchange and the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (NYSE and TASE: ICL). The company employs approximately 12,600 people worldwide, and its sales in 2017 totaled US$5.4 billion. For more information, visit the company's website at www.icl-group.com.

SOURCE ICL

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