New CEO for Clariant
04/09/2008
The board of directors of Clariant International has appointed Dr Hariolf Kottmann as its new chief executive officer, with effect from October 1, replacing Jan Secher, who plans to pursue new activities outside of Clariant.
Dr Juerg Witmer, chairman of the board of Clariant, commented: “Jan
Secher has laid the foundation for the new direction of the group. The board of directors expresses its thanks and recognition for the major
achievements in the restructuring of Clariant under his leadership.
“Dr Hariolf Kottmann has broad leadership experience in the specialty chemicals industry and an outstanding track record in successfully improving the performance of existing businesses as well as building up new business opportunities. Our objective is to substantially improve the performance of the Clariant group and to leverage Clariant’s potential on the basis of a cohesive business portfolio, a global resource base as well as a professional team of business leaders. The board is convinced that this will lead to a sustainable enhancement of the value of Clariant."
“Dr Hariolf Kottmann has broad leadership experience in the specialty chemicals industry and an outstanding track record in successfully improving the performance of existing businesses as well as building up new business opportunities. Our objective is to substantially improve the performance of the Clariant group and to leverage Clariant’s potential on the basis of a cohesive business portfolio, a global resource base as well as a professional team of business leaders. The board is convinced that this will lead to a sustainable enhancement of the value of Clariant."
Hariolf Kottmann earned his PhD in organic
chemistry at the University of Stuttgart in 1984. In 1985 he started his
career at the corporate R&D centre of Hoechst AG in Frankfurt. In
the course of the following years he assumed increasing responsibilities
in various chemical divisions of the company, functions such as research
and development, production and technologies, controlling as well as in
the human resources department of Hoechst.
In 1998 he moved to Summit, New Jersey, as a member of the executive committee and head of the organic chemicals business of Celanese Ltd, a spin-off of Hoechst. In April 2001 he was appointed member of the executive committee of SGL Carbon AG in Wiesbaden. In this function he was responsible for the advanced materials division and the Eastern Europe and Asia regions.
In 1998 he moved to Summit, New Jersey, as a member of the executive committee and head of the organic chemicals business of Celanese Ltd, a spin-off of Hoechst. In April 2001 he was appointed member of the executive committee of SGL Carbon AG in Wiesbaden. In this function he was responsible for the advanced materials division and the Eastern Europe and Asia regions.
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