Azelis has appointed Hans-Joachim Müller as chief executive as Joris Coppye steps down, and has injected €30m into the company to fund future growth.
Müller joins Azelis from Clariant where he was responsible for the catalysis and energy, emulsions, detergents and intermediates, and oil and mining services business units. Previously, at Süd-Chemie he was a member of the managing board and head of the Catalytic Technologies global business unit. His professional career started at BASF in Germany and continued in Hong Kong, where he was responsible for the catalyst business in the Asia-Pacific region.
Azelis is geared for growth following its recent transformation under the leadership of Coppye into an integrated organisation. The Group was rebranded and a new organisational model, with commercial excellence at its core, was supported by common IT systems and leading edge supply chain solutions.
Underpinning the new ceo’s mandate and to finance further growth, in August the company’s existing group of shareholders injected €30m of capital into the business, the majority being provided by 3i.
The additional funding will allow Azelis to achieve its ambitious growth targets.
Müller said there are additional areas for growth. Among these are the firm’s business plans in Asia Pacific as well as projects to acquire new businesses in Europe and other regions.
‘We have a clear focus to further bolster our position as the leading distributor of specialty chemicals,’ he said.
Supporting Müller will be Laurent Nataf who takes over European Operations in addition to his current role within Azelis as group business development director.
Müller will also appoint a new chief financial officer in due course. After three years as cfo during the period of business transformation and successfully completing the recapitalisation of Azelis in August, Günther Krausser will become non-executive director on the board. He will remain available for a transition period until a new cfo is appointed.
