Brenntag builds on past successes with new CEO

 During the first annual general shareholders’ meeting since the successful IPO of Brenntag AG in March 2010, longtime CEO Stephen Clark handed over responsibility for the world market leader in chemical distribution to Steven Holland. Holland, who has been with Brenntag since 2006, has worked closely with Stephen Clark since becoming COO of the company in 2009. During this time he has been instrumental in shaping the strategy for Europe and Asia. As a new member of the Supervisory Board, longtime CEO Clark will support Brenntag in continuing the successful growth strategy. This was decided at the general shareholders’ meeting in Düsseldorf when the shareholders followed the proposal of major shareholder Brachem Acquisition S.C.A. In addition, the general shareholders’ meeting approved the distribution of a dividend of EUR 1.40 per share.

"It is with great confidence that I hand over responsibility for this successful and ambitious MDAX-company to my colleague Steven Holland", the outgoing CEO Stephen Clark said about his successor. "In recent years, Steven has proved to be a strong leader with strategic vision and has driven our growth with passion." Steven Holland has been a board member since 2007; he has been responsible for managing Brenntag’s global day-to-day operations and executing the group’s growth strategy since 2009.

The previous CEO Stephen Clark joins the Supervisory Board – a large majority of the voting shareholders decided in favour of a corresponding request of major shareholder Brachem Acquisition S.C.A. "Stephen Clark has further developed and expanded Brenntag’s global market leadership in chemical distribution with a great sense of responsibility. We highly appreciate and value his work and I would like to specifically thank Stephen Clark, also on behalf of the entire Supervisory Board, for this outstanding achievement. We look forward to continuing to benefit from his long standing know-how ", said Stefan Zuschke, Chairman of the Supervisory Board.

Clark hands over a growing company. Brenntag has significantly improved its results across all key performance indicators since the IPO last year. With EUR 7,649.1 million and EUR 602.6 million respectively, sales and operating EBITDA reached record figures. Based on these excellent results, the Management Board and the Supervisory Board proposed a dividend of EUR 1.40 per share to the general shareholders’ meeting. This corresponds to a total dividend of EUR 72.1 million. The shareholders approved this proposal by a large majority.

The shareholders welcomed the company's performance during the past financial year and adopted the proposals of the remaining agenda items with approval rates of almost one hundred percent.

The Brenntag management aims for further growth based on the good results of 2010. "The financial year 2011 is going well," said the new CEO Steven Holland. "We push ahead with our proven growth strategy and will consistently continue our expansion both organically and through acquisitions." Only in the past few weeks Brenntag has made successful strategic acquisitions in China and North America. On the back of global economic growth, continuing positive trends in chemical distribution and its strong international market position, Brenntag expects to further grow all key performance indicators in local currencies in the current financial year.