Acquisition of Interest

Yule Catto & Co PLC 10 July 2000 Yule Catto Fine Chemical Investment in India Yule Catto & Co plc announces the acquisition of 51% of the shares of Erie Chem (Pvt) Ltd, a subsidiary of Chemiesynth Group, for a consideration of 42M Rupees (circa £600,000). Erie Chem, based in Vapi in the state of Gujarat, has a capability to undertake a wide range of chemical syntheses including nitration, halogenation, diazotisation, reduction and sulphonation and has become an important supplier to Yule Catto of technically demanding multi-stage organic chemical intermediates. An investment of 40M Rupees (£550,000) will begin immediately to further extend these capabilities. The joint venture, soon to be renamed James Robinson India (Pvt) Ltd, will report from a functional viewpoint to the management of James Robinson Ltd and the board will comprise representatives of both parents. The chairman will be appointed by James Robinson and the appointment is announced of Mr Satish Zaveri as Managing Director. Mr Zaveri, a well-known figure in the Indian chemical industry, is currently chairman of the Chemiesynth Group. Sales and marketing activities for all Erie Chem products will be the responsibility of the existing James Robinson team. India has become increasingly important as a global player in the supply of organic chemical intermediates, taking advantage of low overheads and investment costs and Erie Chem is particularly favoured by being connected to a world scale effluent treatment plant serving the chemical industry in Vapi. Yule Catto believes that the recent liberalisation of trade practices in India has created an opportunity to establish a manufacturing base which will be extended to include a wide range of fine chemicals for use in pharma, dyestuffs, photographic and related applications.