Ansell Announces Intention to Purchase Comasec SAS Business

RICHMOND, Australia, August 7, 2012 /PRNewswire/ –

Ansell Limited (ASX:ANN), a global leader in protective solutions, has today announced
its intention to acquire Comasec SAS, subject to regulatory approval. Comasec, which is
headquartered in Gennevilliers, just north of Paris, France is a global leader in
industrial hand protection solutions and has the capacity to manufacture over 200 million
pairs of gloves annually. It has manufacturing plants in Malaysia and Portugal and employs
over 1,200 people. The acquisition of Comasec will help strengthen Ansell’s position in
the rapidly growing but fragmented $7bn industrial hand protection market. It will also
significantly enhance Ansell’s presence in a number of important verticals including
mechanical, chemical, food and utilities.

Ansell’s CEO, Magnus Nicolin commented, “Comasec’s business is a strong fit
strategically for our Industrial and Specialty Markets Global Business Unit (GBU).
Comasec’s products and solutions significantly enhance Ansell’s presence in the
mechanical, chemical, food and utilities verticals globally. Leveraging the strengths of
both organisations will also provide Ansell with significant economies of scale in the
areas of sales, marketing, supply chain and manufacturing. We are looking forward to
integrating Comasec’s products and the well-known brands Comasec, Marigold Industrial and
Marigold into Ansell’s hand protection brand portfolio alongside our industrial brands,
HyFlex(R), AlphaTec(R) and TouchNTuff(R). There are strong product portfolio synergies
between both businesses that will be leveraged in emerging markets, in the US and to
further strengthen our market position in EMEA. We believe that this acquisition is a
positive development for the industrial hand protection market. A combined Ansell and
Comasec will provide an increased choice of solutions and products for end users, drive
innovation and provide significant opportunities for suppliers.”

Pascal Berend, Comasec’s owner and CEO, said, “Since its founding by my father in
1948, Comasec/Marigold has developed very successfully as a family-owned group in PPE.
With China’s entry into the WTO and the acquisitions in recent years of many independent
PPE players by major multinationals, I am pleased that Comasec is joining forces with
Ansell, the recognized world leader in protective gloves. This combination will generate
many opportunities to accelerate growth and innovation while continuing to provide quality
products and services to our customers.”

We expect the transaction to close in the coming months and over several years Ansell
will integrate both businesses, giving customers of Ansell and Comasec access to a more
diverse product portfolio and increased choice of products and solutions. Both companies
will also benefit from synergies in the area of Research and Development and Comasec’s
superior IT platform will enhance the speed of response to customer orders across Ansell’s
Industrial GBU.

Through the integration programme Ansell will actively focus on bringing together the
best of both organisations for the benefit of the combined customer base. This will
include enhanced structures for ordering and billing as well as innovative new products
and solutions that combine the expertise of both companies.

Ansell is a world leader in providing superior health and safety protection solutions
that enhance human well being. With operations in North America, Latin America/Caribbean,
EMEA and Asia, Ansell employs more than 10,000 people worldwide and holds leading
positions in the personal protective equipment and medical gloves markets, as well as in
the sexual health and well being category worldwide. Ansell operates in four main business
segments: Medical Solutions, Industrial Solutions, Specialty Markets, and Sexual Wellness.
Information on Ansell and its products can be found at http://www.ansell.com.

SOURCE Ansell Limited