Ton Buechner, the CEO of AkzoNobel, made a surprise announcement this week that he will be stepping down.
According to Bloomberg, Buechner is leaving the company for “unspecified health reasons.” The company’s head of specialty chemicals, Thierry Vanlancker, will take over as CEO.
In May, several of the company’s shareholders lashed out at Buechner and criticized his continued resistance to rival paint-maker PPG’s multiple takeover attempts. Buechner and the company’s management have stood their ground, however, arguing that AkzoNobel’s plan to spin off its specialty chemicals unit will unlock more value for shareholders.
Bloomberg reports that the company has no plans to alter this course in Buechner’s absence.
“The chemicals plan, and the separation that is ongoing is in full motion, and there is no change to that at all,” Vanlancker said.
Vanlancker is a chemical engineer by training who led polymers, performance coatings and chemicals units at DuPont and Chemours for nearly 30 years. He started at AkzoNobel just last year.
Buechner, 52, has had health problems in the past and took a leave of absence in 2012 due to fatigue. The company’s chairman said this recent development happened within “a matter of days.”
Buechner has been credited with transforming AzkoNobel into a growth-focused company. Since joining AkzoNobel in 2012, he has been instrumental in streamlining the company’s business and raising its profitability. After becoming CEO, Beuchner led the $1 billion sale of the company’s decorative paint business to PPG — a move Bloomberg says gave PPG an appetite for acquisitions.
In AkzoNobel’s statement about the CEO change, Buechner said, “For me this was an extraordinary difficult decision to make but my focus must now be on my health.”
