Versum’s Novo will be Ashland’s new CEO

Ashland Global Holdings has named Guillermo Novo to succeed William A. Wulfsohn as CEO when Wulfsohn steps down at the end of the year. Novo was CEO of the electronic chemical maker Versum Materials, which was just acquired by Merck KGaA in a deal valued at $6 billion, including debt. Ashland faced a challenge from the activist investor Cruiser Capital earlier this year, but the firms buried the hatchet when Ashland agreed to appoint two Cruiser nominees to its board. Novo joined Air Products & Chemicals in 2012 and in 2014 became the head of its electronic chemical business, which later was spun off as Versum.