Koppers Announces Sale of Property and Assets at Facility in Sweetwater, Tennessee

PITTSBURGH, April 5, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Koppers Holdings Inc. (NYSE: KOP) and Koppers Utility and Industrial Products Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Koppers Holdings Inc., today announced the completion of the sale of its utility pole treating facility in Sweetwater, Tennessee, to affiliates of Culpeper Wood Preservers.

As part of Koppers previously announced strategy to optimize its network of operations, the company has transferred its assets at the Sweetwater facility to Culpeper in exchange for an undisclosed sum.  Employees at the site have been given an opportunity to remain with Culpeper.

Commenting on the transaction, Koppers Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Jim Sullivan said, "We are pleased to take this next step in optimizing our treating footprint by consolidating underutilized capacity.  Making this deal even better is that a valued customer of our Performance Chemicals business is interested in the site to serve their growing residential treating business."

Sullivan continued, "In addition to providing benefits to both Koppers and Culpeper, I am further pleased that our former employees have the opportunity to stay on with Culpeper and maintain their livelihoods.  On behalf of the global Koppers team, we wish them well and thank them for their efforts, especially in these challenging times due to the ongoing pandemic."

The sale of Sweetwater is the latest step in the strategic transformation of Koppers to become the leading global provider of technologies to enhance wood.  Since 2014, the company has made six acquisitions, three divestitures, and sold or closed 15 facilities across its global footprint, significantly increasing its financial performance in that timeframe.

About Koppers
Koppers, with corporate headquarters in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, is an integrated global provider of treated wood products, wood treatment chemicals, and carbon compounds. Our products and services are used in a variety of niche applications in a diverse range of end markets, including the railroad, specialty chemical, utility, residential lumber, agriculture, aluminum, steel, rubber, and construction industries. We serve our customers through a comprehensive global manufacturing and distribution network, with facilities located in North America, South America, Australasia, and Europe. The stock of Koppers Holdings Inc. is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "KOP."

For more information, visit: www.koppers.com. Inquiries from the media should be directed to Ms. Jessica Franklin at [email protected] or 412-227-2025. Inquiries from the investment community should be directed to Ms. Quynh McGuire at [email protected] or 412-227-2049.

Safe Harbor Statement
Certain statements in this press release are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and may include, but are not limited to, statements about sales levels, acquisitions, restructuring, declines in the value of Koppers assets and the effect of any resulting impairment charges, profitability and anticipated expenses and cash outflows.

All forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties. All statements contained herein that are not clearly historical in nature are forward-looking, and words such as "outlook," "guidance," "forecast," "believe," "anticipate," "expect," "estimate," "may," "will," "should," "continue," "plan," "potential," "intend," "likely," or other similar words or phrases are generally intended to identify forward-looking statements.  Any forward-looking statement contained herein, in other press releases, written statements or other documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, or in Koppers communications and discussions with investors and analysts in the normal course of business through meetings, phone calls and conference calls, regarding future dividends, expectations with respect to sales, earnings, cash flows, operating efficiencies, restructurings, the benefits of acquisitions, divestitures, joint ventures or other matters as well as financings and debt reduction, are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and contingencies.

Many of these risks, uncertainties and contingencies are beyond our control, and may cause actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from anticipated results, performance or achievements.  Factors that might affect such forward-looking statements include, among other things, the impact of changes in commodity prices, such as oil and copper, on product margins; general economic and business conditions; existing and future adverse effects as a result of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic; disruption in the U.S. and global financial markets; potential difficulties in protecting our intellectual property; the ratings on our debt and our ability to repay or refinance our outstanding indebtedness as it matures; our ability to operate within the limitations of our debt covenants; potential impairment of our goodwill and/or long-lived assets; demand for Koppers goods and services; competitive conditions; interest rate and foreign currency rate fluctuations; availability and costs of key raw materials; unfavorable resolution of claims against us, as well as those discussed more fully elsewhere in this release and in documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission by Koppers, particularly our latest annual report on Form 10-K and any subsequent filings by Koppers with the Securities and Exchange Commission.  Any forward-looking statements in this release speak only as of the date of this release, and we undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statement to reflect events or circumstances after that date or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.

SOURCE Koppers