SDK Announces Progress Towards the Tender Offer for Shares of Hitachi Chemical Company, Ltd. (Securities Code 4217)

TOKYO, Feb 28, 2020 - (JCN Newswire) - As notified on the "Announcement Regarding the Planned Commencement of Tender Offer for Shares in Hitachi Chemical Company, Ltd. (Securities Code 4217)" dated December 18, 2019, HC Holdings K.K. (The "Tender Offeror"), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Showa Denko K.K. ("Showa Denko," and collectively referred to with the Tender Offeror as the "Tender Offerors"), had announced that the commencement of the tender offer (The "Tender Offer") is subject to satisfaction (or waiver by the Tender Offeror) of certain conditions precedent, including the completion of necessary procedures and actions under domestic and overseas competition laws (Japan, China, Korea, US, EU, and Taiwan).

The Tender Offerors are proceeding with necessary procedures and measures under competition laws of each country towards the Tender Offer, and as of today, procedures and measures under the competition laws in some countries and have yet to be completed. At present, the Tender Offerors are not aware of significant issues concerning the procedures, etc. under the competition laws; however, the timing of completion of procedures and measures and the commencement of the Tender Offer is expected to be March, 2020 at the earliest, and we will continue to strive for prompt conclusion.

We will quickly notify when the conditions for the commencement of the Tender Offer are met and the Tender Offer is to begin.

About Showa Denko K.K.

Showa Denko K.K. (SDK; TSE:4004, ADR:SHWDY), a major manufacturer of chemical products, serves a wide range of fields from heavy industry to electronics and computer industries. The Petrochemicals Sector provides cracker products such as ethylene and propylene, the Chemicals Sector provides industrial, high-performance and high-purity gases and chemicals for semicon and other industries, and the Inorganics Sector provides ceramic products, such as alumina, abrasives, refractory and graphite electrodes and fine carbon products. The Aluminum Sector provides aluminum materials and high-value-added fabricated aluminum, the Electronics Sector provides HD media, compound semiconductors such as ultra high-bright LEDs and rare earth magnetic alloys, and the Advanced Battery Materials Department (ABM) provides lithium-ion battery components. For more information, please visit www.sdk.co.jp/english/.

Contact:Showa Denko K.K., Public Relations Office, Tel: 81-3-5470-3235

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