PolyOne Announces Asset Realignment in Brazil

July 15, 2014

CLEVELAND – PolyOne Corporation (NSYE: POL) a premier global provider of specialized polymer materials, services and solutions, today announced a realignment of its manufacturing assets in Brazil. As part of the realignment, PolyOne will close manufacturing plants located in Diadema and Joinville, Brazil. The company will continue to operate and invest in its facilities in Novo Hamburgo and Itupeva, Brazil, while offering specialty solutions throughout the region.

“This asset realignment will accelerate our specialty strategy in Brazil, streamline our operations, and improve our financial performance in the region,” said Robert M. Patterson, president and chief executive officer, PolyOne Corporation. “Further, these actions will increase our focus on specialty solutions for customers, consistent with current and future market trends in this important and strategic market.”

The company expects to incur cash costs of approximately $5 million associated with these actions and non-cash charges of $12 million primarily associated with accelerated depreciation and asset impairments. PolyOne will provide additional detail and discussion on the strategic realignment during its Q2 2014 earnings call on July 22, 2014.

About PolyOne

PolyOne Corporation, with 2013 revenues of $3.8 billion, is a premier provider of specialized polymer materials, services and solutions. The company is dedicated to serving customers in diverse industries around the globe, by creating value through collaboration, innovation and an unwavering commitment to excellence. Guided by its Core Values, Sustainability Promise and No Surprises PledgeSM, PolyOne is committed to its customers, employees, communities and shareholders through ethical, sustainable and fiscally responsible principles. For more information, visit www.polyone.com.

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Forward-looking Statements

In this press release, statements that are not reported financial results or other historical information are “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements give current expectations or forecasts of future events and are not guarantees of future performance. They are based on management’s expectations that involve a number of business risks and uncertainties, any of which could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in or implied by the forward-looking statements. They use words such as “will,” “anticipate,” “estimate,” “expect,” “project,” “intend,” “plan,” “believe,” and other words and terms of similar meaning in connection with any discussion of future operating or financial condition, performance and/or sales. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those implied by these forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to: the effect on foreign operations of currency fluctuations, tariffs, and other political, economic and regulatory risks; changes in polymer consumption growth rates where the Company conducts business; changes in global industry capacity or in the rate at which anticipated changes in industry capacity come online; fluctuations in raw material prices, quality and supply and in energy prices and supply; production outages or material costs associated with scheduled or unscheduled maintenance programs; unanticipated developments that could occur with respect to contingencies such as litigation and environmental matters, including any developments that would require any increase in the Company’s costs and/or reserves for such contingencies; an inability to achieve or delays in achieving or achievement of less than the anticipated financial benefit from initiatives related to working capital reductions, cost reductions, and employee productivity goals; an inability to raise or sustain prices for products or services; an inability to maintain appropriate relations with unions and employees; the speed and extent of an economic recovery, including the recovery of the housing markets; the financial condition of the Company’s customers, including the ability of customers (especially those that may be highly leveraged and those with inadequate liquidity) to maintain their credit availability; disruptions, uncertainty or volatility in the credit markets that may limit the Company’s access to capital; other factors affecting the Company’s business beyond the Company’s control, including, without limitation, changes in the general economy, changes in interest rates and changes in the rate of inflation; the Company’s ability to realize anticipated savings and operational benefits from the realignment of assets, including the planned closure of certain manufacturing facilities; the timing of closings and shifts of production to new facilities related to asset realignments and any unforeseen disruptions of service or quality caused by such closings and/or production shifts; the timing of the recognition of the charges that will be incurred; separation and severance amounts and plant exit costs that differ from original estimates; amounts for non-cash charges related to asset write-offs, asset impairments, and accelerated depreciation realignments of property, plant and equipment, that differ from original estimates; the Company’s
ability to identify and evaluate acquisition targets and consummate acquisitions; the ability to successfully integrate acquired companies into the Company’s operations, retain the management teams of acquired companies, and retain relationships with customers of acquired companies, including, without limitation, Spartech Corporation; and other factors described in the Company’s annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2013 under Item 1A, “Risk Factors.” The above list of factors is not exhaustive.

We undertake no obligation to publicly update forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. You are advised to consult any further disclosures we make on related subjects in our reports on Form 10-Q, 8-K and 10-K that we provide to the Securities and Exchange Commission.

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Investor Relations Contact:
Isaac D. DeLuca
Vice President, Investor Relations
PolyOne Corporation
+1 440-930-1226
isaac.deluca@avient.com

Media Contact:
Kyle G. Rose
Director, Corporate Communications
PolyOne Corporation
+1 440-930-3162
kyle.rose@avient.com