Chris Shadday Named President of VianceSucceeding Steve Ainscough

Printer-friendly versionPDF version

Princeton, NJ USA (July 8, 2011)– Viance LLC, a joint venture between Rockwood Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: ROC) and The Dow Chemical Company (NYSE: DOW), specializing in microbial control technologies for the treated wood market segment has announced the appointment of Chris Shadday as President of Viance, succeeding Steve Ainscough who has announced his intention to retire. The appointment will take effect August 1, 2011.

Shadday is currently the commercial vice president of Viance. Prior to joining Viance, Shadday had a successful career with Rohm and Haas, a specialty chemical company acquired by Dow in 2009. Shadday originally joined Rohm and Haas in 1989 as a process engineer and subsequently held several technical and commercial roles of increasing responsibility, culminating in his appointment as business segment manager of the consumer and industrial business unit. Shadday joined Viance in 2006 as part of the joint venture between Rockwood Holdings, Inc. and Rohm and Haas. Viance chairman of the board of directors and global general manager for Dow Microbial Control, Mark Henning added, "Chris is an excellent choice for this role and I am looking forward to the many contributions he will bring to the business."

Throughout 40 years of service, including leadership of the timber treatment business since 1985, Ainscough has guided the company through a number of changes, most notably the formation of the Viance joint venture in 2006. Commenting on the transition, Andrew M. Ross, Viance board member and president of Rockwood Performance Additives, said, "Rockwood and the Viance Board thank Steve for his dedicated, 40 years of service. We are pleased to have identified a successor to Steve within the ranks at Viance. Chris' previous work experience at Rohm and Haas and Viance, together with his knowledge of the wood treatment business, will serve him well in his new role."

About Viance and Rockwood

Viance is a joint venture of Rockwood Holdings, Inc. and The Dow Chemical Company. Rockwood is a leading global inorganic specialty chemicals and advanced materials company. Rockwood has a worldwide employee base of approximately 9,700 people and annual net sales of more than $3.5 billion. The company focuses on global niche segments of the specialty chemicals, pigments and additives and advanced materials markets. For more information on Rockwood, please visitwww.rocksp.com.

About Dow Microbial Control

Dow Microbial Control innovates with science and technology to provide long-term viable and sustainable microbial control. Our comprehensive global offering provides customers with solutions to optimize formulations, including high performing and technically supported selection of registered actives and products. With world-class people organization-wide and a broad portfolio of microbial control technologies, Dow Microbial Control can help solve most microbial control problem. From specialty to highly regulated and non-regulated, the company has the experience and essentials for more sustainable microbial protection for products and processes. Visit us atwww.DowMicrobialControl.com.

About Dow

Dow (NYSE: DOW) combines the power of science and technology with the "Human Element" to passionately innovate what is essential to human progress. The Company connects chemistry and innovation with the principles of sustainability to help address many of the world's most challenging problems such as the need for clean water, renewable energy generation and conservation, and increasing agricultural productivity. Dow's diversified industry-leading portfolio of specialty chemical, advanced materials, agrosciences and plastics businesses delivers a broad range of technology-based products and solutions to customers in approximately 160 countries and in high growth sectors such as electronics, water, energy, coatings and agriculture. In 2010, Dow had annual sales of $53.7 billion and employed approximately 50,000 people worldwide. The Company's more than 5,000 products are manufactured at 188 sites in 35 countries across the globe. References to "Dow" or the "Company" mean The Dow Chemical Company and its consolidated subsidiaries unless otherwise expressly noted. More information about Dow can be found atwww.dow.com.

The information set forth in this press release contains certain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 concerning the business, operations and financial condition of Rockwood Holdings, Inc. and its subsidiaries and affiliates ("Rockwood"). Words such as "anticipates," "believes," "estimates," "expects," "forecasts," "predicts" and variations of such words or expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Although Rockwood believes the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are based upon reasonable assumptions, there can be no assurance that its expectations will be realized. "Forward-looking statements" consist of all non-historical information, including any statements referring to the prospects and future performance of Rockwood. Actual results could differ materially from those projected in Rockwood's forward-looking statements due to numerous known and unknown risks and uncertainties, including, among other things, the "Risk Factors" described in Rockwood's 2010 Form 10-K on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Rockwood does not undertake any obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement to reflect events or circumstances after the date on which any such statement is made or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.is a global company committed to the specialty chemistry. The Group's activities focus on products and processes for the chemical treatment of metal surfaces and plastics, as well as selected fields of fine chemistry, e.g. lithium and cesium compounds.

News Source : Chris Shadday Named President of VianceSucceeding Steve Ainscough