Business Description

Unless the context otherwise indicates or requires, all product names, trade names, trademarks, service marks or logos used in this 2025 Annual Report are part of our intellectual property, although the “®” and “TM” trademark designations may have been omitted. For financial and other information about our segments and the geographic areas in which we do business, see "Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" in Part II, Item 7, "Financial Statements and Supplementary Data" in Part II, Item 8, as well as Note 1, "Background and Basis of Presentation" and Note 22, "Segment Information" to our audited Consolidated Financial Statements, all included in this 2025 Annual Report. Business Overview Element Solutions, incorporated in Delaware in January 2014, is a leading global specialty chemicals technology company whose businesses supply a broad range of solutions that enhance the performance of products people use every day. Developed in multi-step technological processes, these innovative solutions enable customers' manufacturing processes in multiple high-value industries, including consumer electronics, power electronics, semiconductor fabrication, high-performance computing, communications and data storage infrastructure, automotive systems, industrial surface finishing and offshore energy. Our product innovation and product extensions are expected to continue to drive sales growth in both new and existing markets while expanding margins through a consistent focus on increasing customer value propositions. We believe the majority of our businesses hold strong positions in the high-growth markets we serve. Our extensive global teams of specially trained scientists and engineers develop our solutions, and our expert sales and service organizations ensure our customers' needs are met every day. Our customer-centric innovation means we develop technologies to meet the already-identified needs of our current supply chains. We solve our customers' existing and emerging problems through technical service and innovation. We believe that our customers place significant value on the consistency and quality of our brands, on which we capitalize through significant market share, customer loyalty and supply chain access. In addition, operational risks and switching costs make it difficult for our customers to change suppliers which allows us to retain customers and maintain our market positions. Our customers rely on our innovation to develop new products of their own, so our capabilities help them keep up in fast-paced, high-growth markets. To that end, we draw upon our broad and longstanding intellectual property portfolio and technical expertise, while working closely with both customers and OEMs on an ongoing basis, to develop proprietary solutions tailored to their manufacturing needs. We leverage these close relationships to win qualifications and specifications into their supply chains as well as to identify opportunities for new products; all of which provide potential additional revenue streams. Our strategy is based on a balance of operational excellence and prudent capital allocation. Our operating teams focus on the strong execution of customer-led product development, superior technical sales support and continuous supply chain optimization. Our senior leadership aims to foster an environment of accountability and success for our operating teams while also evaluating and executing on high-return capital allocation opportunities that can drive compounding of long-term intrinsic value per share. Acquisitions and Divestitures We regularly pursue targeted and opportunistic acquisitions in our existing and adjacent end-markets that seek to strengthen our current businesses, expand and diversify our product offerings, and enhance our growth and strategic position as well as divestitures to maximize long-term value creation for our shareholders. MGS Transaction - On February 28, 2025, we completed the sale of our flexographic printing plate business, MacDermid Graphics Solutions, for $320 million, net of disposed cash. MacDermid Graphics Solutions was reported within the Specialties segment. The sale resulted in a gain of $66.5 million.…