Royal DSM N.V., the global Life Sciences and Materials Sciences company headquartered in the Netherlands, today announces that a definitive agreement has been signed to sell its Solutech business to Lydall, Inc., the United States-based specialty engineered products manufacturer. Financial details of the transaction will not be disclosed.

The DSM Solutech business, which primarily consists of two production facilities in the Netherlands, contributed approximately EUR 3 million to DSM's total net sales in 2007. Lydall has been a development partner for Solutech since 2007 and as part of the agreement DSM will continue to cooperate with Lydall.

DSM Solutech, established in 1993, is the manufacturer of Solupor® specialty microporous membranes for air and liquid filtration. These membranes are suitable for a range of applications, including filtration and separation, supercapacitors, Li-ion batteries, textiles and polymer fuel cells.

“We are very pleased to have reached an agreement with Lydall,” said Nico Gerardu, member of the Managing Board of DSM. “As Lydall is a leader in filtration, the Solutech business has a good strategic fit with their business, allowing DSM to further concentrate on our transformation towards a Life Sciences and Materials Sciences company.”

Lydall, Inc.
Lydall, Inc. is a New York Stock Exchange listed company, headquartered in Manchester, Connecticut. The Company, with operations in the U.S., France, and Germany and sales offices in Europe and Asia, focuses on specialty engineered products for the thermal/acoustical and filtration/separation markets. Lydall Performance Materials designs and manufactures technically advanced air, fluid power and life sciences filtration products and thermal and insulating solutions for appliance, cryogenic, electrical and building applications.

DSM Solutech BV
DSM Solutech BV was established in 1993. DSM Solutech is the producer of the specialty microporous membrane SOLUPOR®. These microporous membranes are utilized in various applications such as batteries, transdermal drug delivery systems, filtration, fuel cells and composite membranes. DSM Solutech BV has production facilities in Geleen and Heerlen (The Netherlands).