KEMET Signs Agreement to Acquire Niotan Incorporated for about $30M

KEMET Corporation (NYSE: KEM) announced today that it has signed an agreement to acquire all of the outstanding shares of Niotan Incorporated from an affiliate of Denham Capital Management LP. Niotan has been a significant supplier of tantalum powder to KEMET for several years.

"This acquisition is in keeping with our announced strategic direction to vertically integrate operations and to better control supply sources as well as to contain our cost structure," said Per Loof, Chief Executive Officer of KEMET. "Acquiring Niotan is a significant step in securing and stabilizing our tantalum powder resources. Additionally, we recently announced a comprehensive plan for sourcing conflict free tantalum ore from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). We will continue to purchase a portion of our tantalum powder needs from our existing supply base. Together, these actions have put in place a supply chain that provides customers with confidence in the long-term viability of our tantalum capacitance solutions and will allow for faster to market development of specialty powders from KEMET," continued Loof.

KEMET will pay an initial purchase price of $30 million at the closing of the transaction and additional deferred payments of $45 million over a thirty month period after the closing. KEMET will also be required to make quarterly royalty payments for tantalum powder produced by Niotan after the closing of the transaction, in an aggregate amount equal to $10,000,000 by December 31, 2014. The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions, including expiration or termination of the waiting period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act, and is expected to close in March 2012.