ICL, Avantor Name New CEOs

Two chemical companies have hired industry veterans to be their new CEOs. ICL, an Israeli maker of chemicals and fertilizers, has appointed Stefan Borgas as its president and CEO, effective Sept. 20. Borgas, 48, was CEO of fine chemicals company Lonza for about eight years until January, when he was forced out in the wake of poor financial results. He previously was a BASF executive. Borgas will replace Akiva Mozes, who has led ICL since 1999 and helped the company add specialty chemicals to its core business of potash and bromine extracted from the Dead Sea. Meanwhile, Avantor Performance Materials has appointed John M. Steitz, 54, as president and CEO. Steitz comes to Avantor, the former Mallinckrodt Baker laboratory chemicals business, from the specialty chemical company Albemarle, where he was president and chief operating officer. Steitz takes over from Rajiv L. Gupta, who was CEO of Rohm and Haas until it was acquired by Dow Chemical in 2009. Gupta remains chairman of Avantor.