PolyOne Announces Expansion in Costa Rica with Healthcare-Focused Distribution Services

CLEVELAND, May 22, 2012 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- PolyOne Corporation (NYSE: POL), a premier global provider of specialized polymer materials, services and solutions, has announced it is expanding its successful distribution business into Costa Rica.

PolyOne's presence in this new market will initially focus on healthcare applications and could broaden to serve other industries. Operations and logistics, as well as sales and customer service functions, will be located in the city of San Jose, an ideal location in close proximity to many key customers in the region.

"Our operations in Costa Rica will provide value to global healthcare device manufacturers, processors and suppliers by helping them to streamline logistics and simplify inventory management," said Kurt C. Schuering, president, PolyOne Distribution.

Costa Rica was recently ranked by a World Bank study as the top high-tech exporter in Latin America. The medical industry in Costa Rica is expanding rapidly, with more than 30 medical device companies manufacturing locally.

"Serving the healthcare industry is a core area of expertise for PolyOne, and this recent investment expands our ability to better support customers in this market," said Robert M. Patterson, executive vice president and Chief Operating Officer, PolyOne Corporation. "Further, adding sales and customer service capabilities in Costa Rica is entirely consistent with our proven strategy to grow our business through global expansion in high-growth markets and regions of the world."

About PolyOne

PolyOne Corporation, with 2011 revenues of $2.9 billion, is a premier provider of specialized polymer materials, services and solutions. Headquartered outside Cleveland, Ohio USA, PolyOne has operations around the world. Consistent with the company's strategy of specialty growth and global expansion, in December of 2011 PolyOne acquired ColorMatrix Group, Inc., a highly specialized company with a premier suite of additive technologies and a leading market position in liquid colorants. For additional information on PolyOne, visit our website at www.polyone.com.

Forward-looking Statements

In this press release, statements that are not reported financial results or other historical information are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.  Forward-looking statements give current expectations or forecasts of future events and are not guarantees of future performance.  They are based on management's expectations that involve a number of business risks and uncertainties, any of which could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in or implied by the forward-looking statements.  They use words such as "will," "anticipate," "estimate," "expect," "project," "intend," "plan," "believe," and other words and terms of similar meaning in connection with any discussion of future operating or financial condition, performance and/or sales.  Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those implied by these forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to: disruptions, uncertainty or volatility in the credit markets that could adversely impact the availability of credit already arranged and the availability and cost of credit in the future; the financial condition of our customers, including the ability of customers (especially those that may be highly leveraged and those with inadequate liquidity) to maintain their credit availability; the speed and extent of an economic recovery, including the recovery of the housing and chlor-alkali markets; our ability to achieve new business gains; the effect on foreign operations of currency fluctuations, tariffs, and other political, economic and regulatory risks; changes in polymer consumption growth rates where we conduct business; changes in global industry capacity or in the rate at which anticipated changes in industry capacity come online; fluctuations in raw material prices, quality and supply and in energy prices and supply; production outages or material costs associated with scheduled or unscheduled maintenance programs; unanticipated developments that could occur with respect to contingencies such as litigation and environmental matters; an inability to achieve or delays in achieving or achievement of less than the anticipated financial benefit from initiatives related to working capital reductions, cost reductions, employee productivity goals and our new global organization structure; an inability to raise or sustain prices for products or services; an inability to maintain appropriate relations with unions and employees; the inability to achieve expected results from our acquisition activities; our ability to continue to pay cash dividends; the amount and timing of repurchases of our common shares, if any; SunBelt's future results of operations and corresponding impact on any additional earn-outs that we may be entitled to; the ability to successfully integrate ColorMatrix and achieve the expected results from the acquisition, including the acquisition being accretive; the ability to retain ColorMatrix's management team and its relationships with customers; the ability to successfully form and operate our joint venture in the Middle East; and other factors affecting our business beyond our control, including, without limitation, changes in the general economy, changes in interest rates and changes in the rate of inflation.  The above list of factors is not exhaustive.

We undertake no obligation to publicly update forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.  You are advised to consult any further disclosures we make on related subjects in our reports on Form 10-Q, 8-K and 10-K that we provide to the Securities and Exchange Commission.

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SOURCE PolyOne Corporation