Lonza names Ridinger as new chief executive
pharmafile | April 5, 2012 | News story | Manufacturing and Production | Cognis, Lonza, Ridinger
Swiss contract manufacturer and ingredients supplier Lonza has appointed Richard Ridinger as its new chief executive, replacing Stefan Borgas who was ousted from the company in January.
Ridinger joins Lonza from Cognis, where he was in charge of the company’s Care Chemicals unit with responsibility for around 3,000 employees and helped with the integration of the firm into BASF after it was taken over at the end of 2010. During his tenure, sales increased by 60% to €1.75 billion over six years.
He formerly held senior positions at chemical group Henkel and will take over the reins at Lonza on 1 May.
Lonza’s chairman and interim chief executive Rolf Soiron, said that 53-year-old Ridinger “could be a person who grew up with Lonza”, and “is a chemical engineer who knows our industries, customers and products”.
Borgas’ abrupt departure from Lonza earlier this year came after profit at the company plunged by around a third, amid weaker demand for its services from the pharmaceutical sector and high raw material costs, as well as a strong Swiss franc.
Ridinger’s appointment has prompted speculation that Lonza may start to rebalance its activities away from the pharmaceutical sector – which was a prime target for Borgas during his eight-year tenure – back towards chemicals.
Lonza has already started this shift via its $1.2 billion acquisition of Arch Chemicals last year, which focuses mainly on biocides and other chemicals with industrial applications.
At the time Borgas said that the deal would reduce Lonza’s dependence on the “volatile biopharmaceutical contract manufacturing market”.
Ridinger has been mandated with “strengthening Lonza’s market position in relevant markets, strengthening competitive capabilities, and productivity improvement in critical areas”, according to the company.
One specific objective is to meet the previously announced ‘Visp Challenge’, which is expected to contribute more than 100 million francs over three years, as well as a review of group-wide structures to achieve a “stepwise improvement of growth and return on capital”.
Meanwhile, Lonza has also appointed Marc Funk as group general counsel and board secretary.
Phil Taylor
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