Shin-Etsu Chemical Co., Ltd. (Head Office: Tokyo, Japan, President, Chihiro Kanagawa) announced today the completion of the acquisition process of the Cellulose Ethers business unit of Clariant AG (Head Office: Muttenz, Switzerland, President Roland Loesser). A new Shin-Etsu Group company has been established to operate this business in Europe.

The required approval of the European competition authorities was obtained at the end of December. This action constituted the final procedure required in the completion of the acquisition process that was set in motion with the signing of the acquisition agreement by both companies, which was jointly announced in the beginning of November 2003.

The new company's name is SE Tylose GmbH & Co. KG. This company will take an active part as the second base of Shin-Etsu Chemical's cellulose business. Fumio Arai, will concurrently serve as the new company's president as well as the president of Shin-Etsu PVC B.V., Shin-Etsu Chemical's European PVC base.