Specialty metal and chemical products firm 5N Plus Inc of Montreal, Québec, Canada has appointed Arjang J. (AJ) Roshan as president & CEO, effective 15 February. He replaces Jacques L’Ecuyer, who co-founded the firm in 2000 and has been president & CEO since then (growing sales of more than $500m in 2014) but is stepping aside (as announced on 3 November).
Roshan has more than 20 years of international and executive experience closely related to 5N Plus’ line of business, having worked for global materials technology and recycling group Umicore for the last 18 years. Initially focused on the Automotive Catalysts Business, since 2012 Roshan has been senior VP of Umicore’s Electro-Optic Materials business unit (claimed to be the global leader in development, production, recycling and refining of germanium-related products including substrates for space industry, LED and photovoltaic applications, in addition to infrared transparent materials and high-purity chemicals and metals).
5N Plus provides purified metals such as bismuth, gallium, germanium, indium, antimony, cadmium, selenium and tellurium, and also produces related II-VI semiconducting compounds such as cadmium telluride (CdTe), cadmium sulphide (CdS) and indium antimonide (InSb) as precursors for the growth of crystals for solar, LED and eco-friendly materials applications.
Following a global search, Roshan was selected mainly due to his track record in both sustainably growing businesses in markets including Asia Pacific, Europe and North America in addition to transforming troubled ventures facing challenges ranging from unsustainable cost structure and shifting competitive landscape to those burdened by misaligned business models and deteriorating margins. In both situations Roshan has demonstrated leadership qualities that have yielded outstanding results, says 5N Plus.
“Our key criteria was to attract an accomplished executive with a proven track record for impeccable leadership and ability to maximize inherent value within a company so as to deliver consistent and competitive results,” says chairman Jean-Marie Bourassa. “Moreover, we sought a global leader with the ability to enable, empower and inspire our people in order to transform challenges into a viable source of opportunity,” he adds. “Roshan met all the desired criteria, in addition he has demonstrated the skills required to lead appropriate change-initiatives across large-scale corporate cultures.”
“While the industry is facing various challenges, I strongly believe that 5N Plus has the right DNA to turn these challenges into a source of viable opportunity,” says Roshan. “Having been engaged in the same industry it is evident that 5N Plus has established itself as a company with an outstanding pedigree,” he adds.
