Wellman, Inc. Announces Letter of Intent to Sell Its Engineering Resins Business to an Investor Group Specializing in Renewable Energy and Environment

FORT MILL, S.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Wellman, Inc. ([OTC]: WMANQ.OB) announced today that it has entered into a letter of intent to sell its Engineering Resins business and other assets located on its Johnsonville, SC site to an investor group that specializes in turnarounds and renewable energy businesses and is known for its commitments to long term investing. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed, but the deal is expected to close shortly after the completion of a definitive agreement and due diligence, and after the receipt of bankruptcy court approval. The investor group, which includes JHW Greentree Capital, an affiliate of J.H. Whitney & Co., GarMark Partners and Westwind Equity Partners, has already made a significant commitment to recycled PET through their investment in New Horizon Plastics Recycling, which is one of the largest producers of recycled PET serving the bottling and other industries.

Mark Ruday, Wellman, Inc.’s Chief Executive Officer stated “We are very pleased to have executed a letter of intent to sell our Engineering Resins Division and the entire Johnsonville site. The sale needs to proceed with urgency and is scheduled to close in the middle of October. During the sale process, Wellman expects to continue to service its customers. Wellman believes the sale is in its best interests and the best interests of its estates and its stakeholders and will bring in more value than a liquidation. More importantly, Wellman believes the sale would benefit the approximately 160 Johnsonville employees as well as the town of Johnsonville, its school system and its water treatment facility.

Robert Fotsch, CEO of New Horizons, who would also become CEO of the Wellman-Johnsonville assets, said: “For decades, Wellman’s Johnsonville facility has been a leader in plastic recycling. Assuming we are able to complete the transaction, we plan to make the necessary investments and to support the high quality team in Johnsonville in order to reestablish Johnsonville’s leadership in both Engineering Resins and recycled PET so that it remains a critical partner to companies in the automotive, bottling and other industries. Given the high cost of oil, the products produced at Wellman’s Johnsonville’s facility are a very attractive alternative to high priced virgin plastics.”

Robert Taylor, Vice-President of Engineering Resins, said “This is a fantastic opportunity for our Engineering Resins business, our employees, customers and the surrounding community. With the financial backing and commitment of our new partners, we expect to have the resources to expand our Engineering Resins operation and restart the PET bottle recycling operation. It is also a great feeling to work with this investor group to save jobs at the Johnsonville site.”

About the assets at Wellman’s Johnsonville facility. The Engineering Resins business has the capacity to produce over 70 million pounds per year of engineered plastics, which is used in a wide variety of applications including automotive, lawn and garden, and electronics. Other assets include a 235 million pound polyester staple fiber plant and a 190 million pound PET bottle recycling operation, which will be used mainly in the bottling industry, but has applications for other areas.

Forward-Looking Statements

Statements contained in this release that are not historical facts, are forward-looking statements made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. In addition, words such as will "believes," "expects," "anticipates," and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These statements are made as of the date of this report based upon current expectations, and we undertake no obligation to update this information. These forward-looking statements involve certain risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to: our substantial liquidity needs and liquidity pressure; our substantial indebtedness and its impact on our financial health and operations; our ability to obtain confirmation of the Plan including the requisite votes from stakeholders, risks associated with our indebtedness containing floating interest rate provisions and its effect on our financial health if rates rise significantly; our ability to obtain additional financing in the future; risks associated with claims not discharged in the Chapter 11 cases and their effect on our results of operations and profitability; risks associated with the transfers of our equity, or issuances of equity in connection with our reorganization and our ability to utilize our federal income tax net operating loss carry-forwards in the future; our dependence on our management and employees; the adverse effect of competition on our performance; reduced raw material margins; availability and cost of raw materials; reduced sales volumes; increase in costs; volumes of textile imports; prices and volumes of polyester staple fiber and PET resin imports; the financial condition of our customers; change in tax risks; environmental risks; natural disasters; regulatory changes; U.S., European, Asian and global economic conditions; work stoppages; levels of production capacity and profitable operations of assets; prices of competing products; acts of terrorism; and maintaining the operations of our existing production facilities. Actual results may differ materially from those expressed herein. Results of operations in any past period should not be considered indicative of results to be expected in future periods. Fluctuations in operating results may result in fluctuations in the price of our common stock.

For a more complete description of the prominent risks and uncertainties inherent in our business, see our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission including our annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2007.

Wellman, Inc.
Michael Bermish, 803-835-2238
Investor Relations Officer