More Stories: Previous | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Next

Hercules Shareholders Vote in Favor of Merger with Ashland Inc.

Posted: 2008-11-05 12:00:00

Hercules Incorporated (NYSE: HPC) announced that at its special shareholders meeting held earlier today Hercules’ shareholders adopted the Agreement and Plan of Merger, dated July 10, 2008, pursuant to which Ashland Inc. has agreed to acquire Hercules. The Merger Agreement was adopted by holders of more than two-thirds of Hercules’ outstanding common stock, as required by Hercules’ Certificate of Incorporation and the Merger Agreement. The terms of the Merger Agreement call for Hercules shareholders to receive, for each share of Hercules common stock, $18.60 in cash and 0.0930 of a share of Ashland common stock.

Hercules and Ashland expect the transaction to close on November 13, 2008.

# # #

Hercules manufactures and markets chemical specialties globally for making a variety of products for home, office and industrial markets. For more information, visit the Hercules website at www.herc.com.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This news release includes forward-looking statements, as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, reflecting management's current analysis and expectations, based on what management believes to be reasonable assumptions. The words or phrases "will likely result," "should," "are expected to," "will continue," "is anticipated," "expect," "estimate," "project" or similar expressions are among those which identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements may involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, which may cause the actual results to differ materially from those projected, stated or implied, depending on such factors as: the possibility that the transaction with Ashland may not be completed; the possibility that financing may not be available to Ashland on the terms committed; and other risks that are described in filings made by Ashland and the Company with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in connection with the proposed transaction. Accordingly, there can be no assurance that the Company will meet future results, performance or achievement, expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. As appropriate, additional factors are contained in reports filed by the Company with the Securities and Exchange Commission. This paragraph is included to provide safe harbor for forward-looking statements, which are not generally required to be publicly revised as circumstances change, and which the Company does not intend to update.

Photo courtesy of Delaware Business

Going Green: Good for the environment and the balance sheet

By Larry Nagengast (Delaware Business)
Posted: 2008-09-19 12:27:00

Long before energy prices started to skyrocket, many Delaware businesses had begun to realize that going green makes sense, and now they're riding the wave of rising profitability that comes with being ahead of the curve.

Companies in fields as diverse as science, real estate development and printing are paying increased attention to the concept of sustainability, proving on a daily basis that environmental stewardship benefits not only the earth but the corporate bottom line. ...

At Hercules Inc., "we use renewable raw materials in developing most of our products. Cellulose, cottonseed, guar, they're all renewable resources," says John S. Riley, director of public affairs. ...

At Hercules, four business units with green characteristics that had been "plodding along" - water management, global pulp, building products and lubricants - were combined into a single portfolio in April, 2006, with the hope that coordinated attention would promote growth, according to Charles Robinson, director of Ventures. Now they're all growing at double-digit pace, he says. ...

"Most new technologies don't cost more. In some cases, they're actually more cost-effective to produce," Robinson says. As one example, he mentions glues for wood composites made from soy flour and polymers that replace additives that used an environmentally-harmful urea formaldehyde-resin.

Another example of Hercules' commitment to green and sustainability is at its Research Center west of Wilmington. Rows of aging underutilized buildings were demolished and a new $3.8 million powerhouse, featuring a pair of 600-horsepower natural gas burners, was built near the center of the site, replacing an old power plant in the Red Clay Creek floodplain that had been swamped by about seven feet of water during Hurricane Floyd in 1999 and again four years later. The anticipated results: reductions of 30 percent in carbon dioxide emissions, 94 percent in sulfur oxides, 64 percent in nitrogen oxides, and 63 percent in particulates.

"We are a much better site than we were three or four years ago, and we'll be even better in three or four years," says Steven R. Prescott, Research Center director. ...

Sustanibility is an ongoing process, with environmental concerns and rising energy costs driving the quest for new solutions. "We've got a lot of products that need to be re-engineered. By no stretch of the imagination do we have all this figured out," Hercules' Robinson says.

And, as it becomes evident that going green is good for both the environment and the balance sheets, he says, "I don't see any turning back."

[Excerpts reprinted from Delaware Business, Sept/Oct 2008]

PTV Community Service Project

By Bruce Hohensee
Posted: 2008-09-04 16:02:00

On Wednesday, August 6th, over 60 people from Hercules PTV participated in a community service day in the Wilmington area. PTV Management, our 2008 Summer Interns and the 2008 Eagles Nest Attendees split up into 4 teams and spent the day working at three Habitat for Humanity projects and the Sunday Morning Breakfast Mission.

At the Habitat Project in West Chester, PA, 9 members of Team Wallace worked on wiring 2 houses and built the structure for pouring the foundation/walls for a third home.

At the Webster Village site in Wilmington, DE, 15 members of Team Hohensee worked on a variety of projects including; hanging doors, installing flooring and sheetrock and painting. (This project is located across the Brandywine river from the Hercules Plaza. You can actually see the Plaza in the background of the group picture that was taken with the "regular" volunteers that show up each week to work on the houses.)

The 10 members of Team Clark in Coastville, PA, spent most of the day painting the inside and outside of the houses as they were nearing completion.

"It was a great experience to work with other Hercules employees at the Habitat for Humanity site. The opportunity for team-building was unlike anything that could have happened in a normal work environment, with the focus of the day to help those who are in need of basic necessities. It was a purely positive experience!" Linda L. Chaney, Business Manager - Microbiological Control, Americas

Approximately 29 members of Team Savage spent the day working at the Sunday Morning Breakfast Mission. Some worked on preparing meals for the homeless and underprivileged in the community. A group worked on preparing school supplies and backpacks for grade school children. The mission was also preparing for a big clothes give-away, so a group worked to sort and package jackets and other clothes items that had been donate by GAP and other merchants.

" It was nice to be able to do some good for the community and to work a bit with the interns and get to know them as well." Dana Bowlby, Technical Sales Representative

When the four groups reconvened for dinner, there was a lot of excitement about the work that we were able to contribute and lots of stories were told. In all, it was a good day and we are looking forward to doing it again next year.

2008 Eagle's Nest Meeting

By Lindsay Clark
Posted: 2008-08-22 10:49:00

Paper Technologies and Ventures second annual Eagle's Nest Meeting was held in Wilmington August 5-7. The meeting, which had 16 attendees, is designed for new sales and manufacturing professionals in Hercules with minimal industry experience. The meeting focuses on career development, training opportunities, safety, leadership, and interaction with peers and the PTV management team. It is designed to prepare these young professionals for a successful career with Hercules while building excitement for Hercules' Eagle/Pinnacle Award program.

"The meeting allowed us to get an insight from upper management on various career path options. It also gave us a taste of what it takes to win an Eagle and conveyed the value of the Eagle award within Hercules," said Jason Harman, Technical Sales Representative.

The meeting included a team building event at a local go-karting facility, involvement in a community service project, and a dinner with the 2008 summer interns. Said Nicole Hacet, Technical Sales Representative, "I really enjoyed meeting my peers and learning about their experiences so far."

The award for creativity goes to Anne Schumann, Vice President, Human Resources and IT, who hosted "Hercules Feud," a take-off of the popular show "Family Feud," as a fun way to discuss leadership at Hercules. The "Jack Miller Family" for those reporting to Jack Lowdermilk and Mike Miller and the "Mark Wallace Family" for those reporting to Mark Wescott and Bill Wallace squared off, with the Mark Wallace Family coming away victorious.

The entire event, with the support of the PTV management team, accomplished its goal of educating and motivating the employees who will shape the future of Hercules.

Said Hacet, "I thought I knew how many opportunities were available to us within Hercules, but I was amazed to find that there are so many more options than I imagined. Overall, it was an amazing experience which really helped me focus on my career goals."

More Stories: Previous | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Next