SK Capital, a private investment firm with a disciplined focus on the specialty materials, chemicals and healthcare sectors, is expected to close the acquisition of the Textile Chemicals, Paper Specialties and Emulsions businesses from Clariant at the end of September, 2013.
Upon the closing of the transaction, the three divisions will be combined into an integrated, market-focused, and highly collaborative company. The name of the new company, Archroma, is representative of the organization’s mission to provide its customers with the highest levels of quality, reliability, innovation and customer delight.
To lead Archroma, SK Capital announced that they have brought together a skilled senior leadership team with significant experience in the chemicals and process industries who will work closely with the current heads of the three business units to ensure a smooth transition to an independent consolidated company.
The new members of the management team and their respective positions are:
-Chief Executive Officer (CEO): Alexander Wessels -Chief Financial Officer (CFO): Roland Waibel -Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO): Valérie Robert -Chief Information Officer (CIO): Vincent Keller -General Counsel : Hans Lourens To complete the senior management team, SK Capital expects to add a President Supply Chain in the near future. The existing leaders of the three business units who will continue in their current roles at Archoma are: -President Textile Specialties: Thomas Winkler -President Paper Solutions: Helmut Wagner -President Emulsions Products: Dominik von Bertrab
Aaron Davenport, Managing Director at SK Capital, said: “We are pleased to bring together a highly skilled and seasoned leadership team that have proven track records of driving growth and improvement in the specialty chemicals industry.
"We are convinced that the combination of this new leadership team together with the strong management currently in place at the textiles, paper, and emulsions businesses will ensure a seamless transition for our customers as well as put the company in position to accelerate growth, enhance business process improvement and drive substantial innovation at Archroma in the future.”
Archroma will be a world-leading supplier of products and solutions to the textile, paper, adhesives, and coating industries with revenues of approximately $1.3 billion, 25 global manufacturing facilities, and approximately 3,000 employees.
The company will be headquartered in Switzerland and its Textile Specialties, Paper Solutions and Emulsions Products businesses will be managed, as they are today, from Singapore, Switzerland and Brazil respectively.
