NORTHFIELD, Ill., May 2, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Stepan Company (NYSE: SCL) announced that on March 22, 2012, it increased its controlling interest in Stepan Philippines Inc from 89 percent to 100 percent.  Stepan Philippines operates a surfactant manufacturing plant, south of Manila, which began as a joint venture.  Stepan Company and its wholly owned subsidiary, Stepan Philippines Inc., are committed to meeting surfactant customer needs in the Philippines as well as Southeast Asia.  The plant's fabric softener production area was recently expanded to meet growing demand in the region.

ABOUT STEPAN COMPANY

Stepan Company, headquartered in Northfield, Illinois, is a leading producer of specialty and intermediate chemicals used in household, industrial, personal care, agricultural, food and insulation related products.  The common and the convertible preferred stocks are traded on the New York and Chicago Stock Exchanges under the symbols SCL and SCLPR.

For more information about Stepan Company, please visit the Company online at www.stepan.com.

Except for historical information, all other information in this news release consists of forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.  These forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected, anticipated or implied.  The most significant of these uncertainties are described in Stepan Company's Form 10-K, Form 8-K and Form 10-Q reports and exhibits to those reports, and include (but are not limited to), prospects for our foreign operations, foreign currency fluctuations, certain global and regional economic conditions, the probability of future acquisitions and the uncertainties related to the integration of acquired businesses, the probability of new products, the loss of one or more key customer or supplier relationships, the costs and other effects of governmental regulation and legal and administrative proceedings, including the expenditures necessary to address and resolve environmental claims and proceedings, and general economic conditions.  These forward-looking statements are made only as of the date hereof, and Stepan Company undertakes no obligation to update or revise the forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

SOURCE Stepan Company