Henkel Announces Successful Public Offering of Its Shares in Ecolab

Henkel has held an investment in Ecolab since 1989. In 1991, Ecolab and Henkel formed a joint venture in Europe, combining each company's European commercial cleaning and sanitizing operations.

 Henkel has agreed to sell in total
approximately 67.1 million shares of Ecolab common stock, as a result
of the public offering of its stake in Ecolab Inc., St. Paul,
Minnesota, and the share buy back by Ecolab. Henkel will receive
aggregate proceeds of approximately $2 billion (about 1.6 billion
euros) before taxes and expenses.

In addition, the underwriters in the
offering have an over-allotment option to purchase a total of
approximately 5.6 million additional shares of common stock from
Henkel. If the shares in the over-allotment option are sold, Henkel
will receive additional aggregate proceeds of approximately $170
million (about 135 million euros) before taxes and expenses.

Henkel expects to use the proceeds from
these sales to reduce its outstanding debt. "The divestiture of
our stake in Ecolab enables Henkel to further concentrate on our
operational core business," says Lothar Steinebach, Henkel's
Chief Financial Officer. "In addition, the divestiture is a
major contribution to maintaining our 'A' rating."