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16th February 2001

BBA and Dow announce the formation of Advanced Design Concepts

BBA Group PLC and Dow Chemical Company announced the formation of a technology development joint venture between BBA's wholly owned subsidiary, Corovin GmbH, and Dow Europe S.A., a wholly owned subsidiary of Dow. The 50/50 joint venture, called Advanced Design Concepts GmbH, is unique to BBA, Dow, and the industries it intends to serve among which will include the hygiene, industrial fabrics and automotive industries.

Advanced Design Concepts will be an independent entity, focusing on system designs and development that are based upon the partners' materials and fabrication technology skills. BBA brings a highly diverse fabrication technology base; Dow is well known for its material science competencies. Combining these strengths with external expertise, Advanced Design Concepts will be a project driven company that will design and license breakthrough technologies and differentiated solutions for the venture, its commercial partners and the market it serves.

Roy McGlone, Deputy Chief Executive of BBA, commented:

'We are excited by this new partnership, which is the first time a major nonwovens producer has allied with a major chemical company in our industry and we see real benefits to our customers from leveraging our skills with those of Dow. In addition, this alliance will provide further strategic opportunities for us to grow our nonwovens business in our key markets.'

Romeo Kreinberg, Global Business President of Dow's Polyolefins and Elastomers Business Group, added:

'The joint venture between Dow and BBA Nonwovens is an outstanding opportunity to drive progress in targeted industries via the development of systems approaches. And with the reputations of two industry-leading companies to back it up, Advanced Design Concepts is certain to resonate with current and potential customers in these industries.'

ENQUIRIES:

Roy McGlone, Deputy Chief Executive, BBA Group PLC, 020 7842 4900
Susan Gilchrist/Nigel Prideaux, Brunswick, 020 7404 5959