Stepan Company Announces Acquisition.

Business Editors

NORTHFIELD, Ill.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--September 13, 2001

Stepan Company (NYSE: SCL) announced today that its European subsidiary, Stepan Europe, S.A., has acquired Manro Performance Chemicals Limited, a leading manufacturer of surfactants and specialty chemicals. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Manro Performance Chemicals is based in Stalybridge, United Kingdom. The privately held company manufactures surfactants for a wide range of customers, and specializes in anionic surfactants, hydrotropes and acid catalysts. The company has sales revenues of $44 million dollars and employs 120 people.

"Manro Performance Chemicals has a strong market position in the United Kingdom and has been a dependable partner to the industry," said F. Quinn Stepan, Chief Executive Officer of Stepan Company. "The acquisition will bring new customers to Stepan and extend our service capabilities in Europe. Manro provides a strong manufacturing and marketing base to which we will add Stepan products and technologies." The acquisition will be accretive immediately.

"The acquisition by Stepan provides critical mass, greater geographic coverage and access to a broader product portfolio," said Graham Royle, Chief Executive of Manro Performance Chemicals. "It will enable us to better support growing customer requirements."

Stepan Company is a major manufacturer of specialty and intermediate chemicals used in a broad range of industries. Stepan is a leading merchant producer of surfactants, which are the key ingredients in consumer and industrial cleaning compounds. The company is also a principal supplier of phthalic anhydride used in polyester resins, alkyd resins and plasticizers. Polyurethane polyols and foam systems are used in the expanding thermal insulation market primarily by the construction and refrigeration industries.

Headquartered in Northfield, Illinois, Stepan utilizes a network of modern production facilities located in North and South America, Europe and the Philippines.

Except for historical information, all other information in this news release consists of forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The forward-looking information and statements in this news release are subject to various risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected, anticipated or implied. These risks and uncertainties include but are not limited to: those discussed or identified in the public filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) made by Stepan Company; risks and uncertainties with respect to Stepan Company's expectations regarding the accounting and tax treatment of acquisitions, the value of merger consideration, growth opportunities, earnings accretion, cost savings, revenue enhancements, synergies and other benefits anticipated from acquisition transactions; the costs and effects of government regulation and legal and administrative proceedings; difficulties related to integrating acquired businesses; the effect of any changes in customer and supplier relationships and customer purchasing patterns, shifts in the growth rates among segments driven by various factors, general economic conditions such as changes in interest rates and the performance of the financial markets, changes in domestic and foreign laws, regulations and taxes, changes in competition and pricing environments, and general market and industry conditions. Stepan undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements.