All change at Clariant - where is paper chemicals heading?

Following widespread changes in the management of the paper chemicals group, Clariant today announced that the head of the Textile, Leather and Paper Division, P Piringer, will be replaced by the externally-recruited Frenchman, a Mr Philippe Royer from Alcoa*. Details of the announcement are on the Clariant web site. There is also a Swiss German version. Piringer was an unexpected and seemingly rushed choice for the position when Nico Gontha unexpectedly gave notice in December, 2004.

The changes are to, "Strengthen its commitment to achieving world-class performance," and are part of an ongoing process which will result in significant restructuring costs over the next 4 years. These announcements were, in general, favourably received by the market. However, these statements and actions are made in the midst of rumour about Clariant being looked at by a private equity consortium comprising Permira and Blackstone.

Clariant is a global speciality chemical company with a paper chemical business, predomonantly based on dyes and optical brightening agents (OBAs).

*Recently BHP Billiton, the world's largest mining company, has revived plans for a £20 bn takeover of Alcoa, the aluminium producer ('aluminium frenzy').