Cabot to relocate European Shared Service Center from Belgium to Latvia

On January 28, 2014, Cabot Corporation announced its intention to open a new Europe, Middle East and Africa Shared Service Center in Riga, Latvia, and to close its Leuven, Belgium site, subject to the Belgian information and consultation process. According to Cabot’s 8K on the move (see below), the actions were developed following an extensive evaluation of the company’s shared service capabilities in the EMEA region and a determination that the proposed future EMEA Shared Service Center will enable Cabot to provide the highest quality of service at the most competitive cost. Cabot expects to complete these actions by the end of calendar year 2014, and the company expects cash charges for the intended closure of the Leuven site and the transition to Riga to be in the range of $19 to $22 million. These costs include severance and employee benefits and transition and other closure costs. The cash outlays related to the intended closure are expected to occur over the next two years. Cabot expects a minimum of $6 million of annual cash cost savings, starting in calendar year 2015, as a result of this transition.

Here is the release.