Divestitures:

Assets Held for Sale

In 2015, we announced our intention to pursue strategic alternatives, including divestitures, related to certain businesses which include minerals-based flame retardants and specialty chemicals, fine chemistry services and metal sulfides. In the fourth quarter of 2015, we determined that the assets held for sale criteria in accordance with ASC 360, Property, Plant and Equipment, were met for these businesses as well as a small group of assets at an idled site. As such, the assets and liabilities of these businesses are included in Assets held for sale and Liabilities held for sale, respectively, in the consolidated balance sheet as of December 31, 2015. We have determined that as of December 31, 2015, the expected cash flows of these businesses were sufficient to establish recoverability of the asset carrying values, and therefore no impairment charge has been recorded in the accompanying financial statements under the held-for-sale model.

On November 5, 2015, the Company signed a definitive agreement to sell its Tribotecc metal sulfides business to Treibacher Industrie AG. Included in the transaction were sites in Vienna and Arnoldstein, Austria, and Tribotecc’s proprietary sulfide synthesis process. On January 4, 2016, the Company closed the sale of this business. We received net proceeds of approximately $137 million, and we currently expect to record a gain in the first quarter of 2016 related to the sale of this business.

On December 16, 2015, the Company signed a definitive agreement to sell its minerals-based flame retardants and specialty chemicals businesses to Huber Engineered Materials, a division of J.M. Huber Corporation. The transaction includes Albemarle’s Martinswerk GmbH subsidiary and manufacturing facility located in Bergheim, Germany, and Albemarle’s 50% ownership interest in Magnifin Magnesiaprodukte GmbH, a joint-venture with Radex Heraklith Industriebeteiligung AG at Breitenau, Austria. On February 1, 2016, the Company closed the sale of these businesses. We received net proceeds of approximately $187 million, subject to post-closing adjustments. We currently expect to record a gain in the first quarter of 2016 related to the sale of these businesses.

The carrying amounts of the major classes of assets and liabilities that were classified as held for sale at December 31, 2015, are as follows (in thousands):



Assets
Current assets	$	156,421
Net property, plant and equipment	115,865
Goodwill	46,794
Other intangibles, net of amortization	66,324
All other noncurrent assets	19,081
Assets held for sale	$	404,485
Liabilities
Current liabilities	$	72,756
Deferred income taxes	24,947
All other noncurrent liabilities	31,003
Liabilities held for sale	$	128,706

Assets held for sale and related liabilities are classified as current in the consolidated balance sheet as of December 31, 2015 because the Company has completed or expects to complete the sale of such assets in 2016. The results of operations of the businesses classified as held for sale are included in continuing operations within the consolidated statements of income. These businesses did not qualify for discontinued operations treatment because the Company’s management does not consider their sale as representing a strategic shift that had or will have a major effect on the Company’s operations and financial results.

Discontinued Operations

On April 15, 2014, the Company signed a definitive agreement to sell its antioxidant, ibuprofen and propofol businesses and assets to SI Group, Inc. Included in the transaction were Albemarle’s manufacturing sites in Orangeburg, South Carolina and Jinshan, China, along with Albemarle’s antioxidant product lines manufactured in Ningbo, China. On September 1, 2014, the Company closed the sale of these businesses and assets and received net proceeds of $104.7 million. A working capital settlement of $7.6 million (recorded in Other accounts receivable at December 31, 2014) was received in the first quarter of 2015. Financial results of the disposed group have been presented as discontinued operations in the consolidated statements of income for 2014 and 2013. A summary of results of discontinued operations for the years ended December 31, 2014 and 2013 is as follows (in thousands):



	Year Ended December 31,
	2014			2013
Net sales	$	154,273		$	222,146

(Loss) income from discontinued operations	$	(90,439	)	$	5,985
Income tax (benefit) expense	(20,908		)	1,877
(Loss) income from discontinued operations (net of tax)	$	(69,531	)	$	4,108

Included in (Loss) income from discontinued operations for the year ended December 31, 2014 are pre-tax charges of $85.5 million ($65.7 million after income taxes) related to the loss on the sale of the disposed group, representing the difference between the carrying value of the related assets and their fair value as determined by the sales price less estimated costs to sell. The loss is primarily attributable to the write-off of goodwill, intangibles and long-lived assets, net of cumulative foreign currency translation gains of $17.8 million.