Note 1: Acquisitions and Dispositions of Assets

In December 1997 and January 1998, the company signed agreements in principle to sell its 50% interest in the RohMax joint venture to its partner, Röhm GmbH, and its 50% interest in the AtoHaas joint venture to Elf Atochem. The pending sales, subject to negotiations, are expected to result in a one-time after-tax gain of approximately $100 million.

On July 3, 1996, the company completed the formation of RohMax, a 50-50 joint venture with Röhm GmbH for the research, manufacture and sale of petroleum additives. The company contributed its petroleum additives inventory, manufacturing and research assets in the United States, Canada and France to the joint venture. Röhm GmbH contributed the assets of its related petroleum additives business in Germany to RohMax. The company's share of RohMax's earnings have been reported using the equity method since July 1996.

On June 6, 1997, the company purchased a 25% interest in Rodel, Inc., and subsequently purchased an additional 1%, for a total of approximately $68 million. Rodel is a privately held, Delaware-based leader in precision polishing technology serving the semiconductor, memory disk and glass polishing industries. The investment is accounted for on the equity basis with Rohm and Haas's share of earnings reported as equity in affiliates. The excess of the company's investment in Rodel over its share in the related underlying equity in net assets is being amortized on a straight-line basis over the estimated life of the investment.

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