Philadelphia, PA, November 6, 2000 — Rohm and Haas Company (NYSE:ROH) announced today it has commenced
preliminary discussions with US Salt Holdings LLC of Jacksonville, FL, for the purpose of exploring a possible future
business alliance involving its North American Salt Business Group.
This group, which is based in Chicago, IL, consists of
Morton Salt, Canadian Salt (including the Windsor brand
product lines), and Morton
Bahamas Limited, has annual
sales of approximately $650 million.
According to J. Michael
Fitzpatrick, President and Chief Operating Officer of Rohm and Haas, “The two companies
have entered an exclusive agreement to exchange information that could
lead to a potential alliance. Both the Morton
and Windsor Salt brands are recognized leaders in their respective markets for their unsurpassed product quality,
business integrity and customer satisfaction.” He noted that the North American Salt Group remains an important and
valued part of the Rohm and Haas product portfolio.