PEOPLE
New CEO at Valtris
SK Capital company Valtris Specialty Chemicals has named Mike McGaugh as its new CEO in place of Simon Medley, who is retiring but will continue to advise the company. McGaugh had spent over 25 years at Dow Chemical and was most recently CEO of Myers Industries, an Ohio-based maker of plastic and metal products.
Changes at Siegfried
Siegfried is consolidating the COO roles currently split between drug substances and drug products into one position. Henrik Krüpper, hitherto COO of the former, has left and Stefan Randl is temporarily covering the role as well as being CSO. In addition, Tania Micki will join Siegfried as CFO on 1 July in place of Reto Suter. Micki has over 20 years of finance leadership roles at firms including Tecan, Sulzer and Monsanto.
Hein joins the board
Merck KGaA has named Benjamin Hein CEO of the Electronics business sector and a member of the executive board from 1 May. He will succeed Kai Beckmann, who becomes CEO the same day. Hein has spent 13 years at Merck, rising through roles in Taiwan and the US to lead life science services before this promotion.
Andersen to Brenntag
Bjørn Rici Andersen will join Brenntag from Rockwool Group as COO, with responsibility for supply chain, HSE & S, operational excellence and capex, by 1 April. The firm said his role“ will be instrumental in developing the most competitive and scalable global distribution supply chain for chemicals and ingredients”. Harada to head Sanyo
Sanyo Chemical has appointed Masahiro Harada as its new president and CEO. He is succeeding Akinori Higuchi with effect from 1 April. Harada has spent his entire career with the company since joining in April 1989. Since then, he has held multiple managerial roles, with the latest, since 2024, in the Surfactant division
Kubi promoted at Alcami
Alcami has promoted Guy Kubi from chief business officer to chief operating officer. Reporting direct to CEO Patrick Walsh, he will oversee HR, quality, commercial, project management, corporate development and pharma storage and services operations. Kubi has been with the company for a decade since joining the finance department.
De Monchy appoints Henderson
Olly Henderson has joined De Monchy Aromatics, a multinational flavour and fragrance ingredients supplier based in the UK, as commercial director. The firm said that he“ brings 14 years of experience in the food industry and will be leading the strategic growth of the business across European markets and beyond”.
New CFO at Kemira
Tuomas Mäkipeska has been appointed CFO and a member of Kemira’ s group leadership team by no later than May. He will succeed Petri Castrén who is leaving the company. Mäkipeska had been CFO and deputy CEO at another Finnish firm, YIT, since 2021, and previously had similar roles at Lassila and Tikanoja.
70 SPECIALITY CHEMICALS MAGAZINE ESTABLISHED 1981