- Bob Patel and Alfred Stern, seasoned executives with
experience leading major publicly listed industrial companies, to
stand for election at Air Products' 2025 Annual Meeting of
Shareholders
- Patel, former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of W.R. Grace and
LyondellBasell and former President of Standard Industries, brings
35 years of global chemicals and materials industry experience in
senior manufacturing, commercial, and management roles, and on
public company boards, with extensive experience leading
large-scale, global company transformations
- Stern, CEO and Executive Board Chairman of the OMV Group,
Supervisory Board Chairman of OMV Petrom, and former CEO of
Borealis, has 29 years of proven experience in leading and
transforming global energy and chemicals companies and leading
international multi-billion-dollar projects
LEHIGH
VALLEY, Pa., Nov. 18,
2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Air Products (NYSE:APD) today
announced planned changes to its Board of Directors as part of its
commitment to ongoing refreshment.
Air Products intends to nominate Bhavesh V. "Bob" Patel and
Alfred Stern for election to the
Board at the Company's 2025 Annual Meeting of Shareholders. These
candidates bring strong experience leading and overseeing public
companies, as well as expertise operating complex global businesses
in the chemicals and energy sectors. They each have stellar records
growing major industrial companies internationally and capitalizing
on clean energy and sustainability opportunities.
David H.Y. Ho and Matthew H. Paull will not seek re-election to
the Board at the 2025 Annual Meeting. Following these changes, the
Board will continue to be comprised of nine Directors, six of whom
will have been appointed in the last five years. Collectively, Air
Products' Directors contribute highly relevant and applicable
experience to effectively oversee the Company. They bring executive
and public company board expertise, deep knowledge of the
industrials sector, experience running complex cross-border
organizations, and a long track record of managing large-scale
growth projects and seizing on opportunities related to the energy
transition.
Edward L. Monser, Lead Director,
said: "Bob and Alfred are seasoned leaders of the highest caliber,
with valuable insight and perspectives that will bolster Air
Products' business and strategy. With their addition, the Board
will continue to be well-positioned to oversee the Company through
its next phase of growth and execute on a successful leadership
succession. I look forward to working with the entire Board to
deliver on our goal of being the safest, most diverse and most
profitable industrial gas company in the world."
"We are delighted to nominate Bob and Alfred to the Air Products
Board," said Air Products' Chairman, President and Chief Executive
Officer Seifi Ghasemi. "We welcome
their extensive business experience and proven leadership as Air
Products delivers on its growth strategy of optimizing and growing
its core industrial gases business while advancing the energy
transition through clean hydrogen. On behalf of the Board, I would
like to thank David and Matthew for their vision and counsel that
helped place Air Products on a firm growth trajectory. We are
grateful for their service and contributions to the Company."
Bob Patel is the former
Chief Executive Officer of W.R. Grace and LyondellBasell, two major
global chemical companies. He has 35 years of industry experience
in manufacturing, commercial, and management roles, as well as in
the global commodity markets. With experience running an
NYSE-listed company and leading large-scale global transformations,
Mr. Patel brings executive leadership skills, public company board
experience, capital markets and financial expertise, extensive
Middle East joint venture
experience, and safety expertise. He most recently served as
President of Standard Industries, a global industrial company with
an array of holdings, technologies, and investments. He was
previously CEO of W.R. Grace, which was acquired by Standard
Industries. Previously he held leadership positions at
LyondellBasell, one of the largest chemicals, plastics, and
refining companies in the world. During his 12-year tenure at
LyondellBasell, including seven as CEO with a track record of
disciplined capital allocation, Mr. Patel built new world-scale
production facilities, expanded its market presence in Asia, and made key strategic acquisitions.
Under Mr. Patel's leadership, LyondellBasell was named to Fortune
Magazine's "World's Most Admired Companies" list for four
consecutive years beginning in 2018. Prior to LyondellBasell, Mr.
Patel held senior positions at Chevron and Chevron Phillips
Chemical Company. He has served on the Board of Directors of
Halliburton since 2021. Mr. Patel earned a Bachelor of Science in
Chemical Engineering from The Ohio State
University and holds a Master of Business Administration
from Temple University.
Alfred Stern has been
Chairman of the Executive Board and CEO of the OMV Group since
2021. OMV, listed on the Vienna Stock Exchange, is the largest
industrial company in Austria with
a global footprint. Under Mr. Stern's vision and leadership, OMV is
transitioning to become an integrated sustainable chemicals, fuels
and energy company, with a focus on innovative circular economy
solutions. He is also Chairman of the Supervisory Board of OMV
Petrom, a listed energy company in Bucharest, Romania. With in-depth
international multi-industry experience spanning over three
decades, Mr. Stern has led profound business efforts and
transformations in the energy and chemical industries in
Europe, the U.S., Asia and the Middle
East. In particular, he has successfully initiated and led
significant international, multi-billion-dollar growth projects,
including organic and inorganic investments, and joint ventures.
Prior to OMV, Mr. Stern was CEO of Borealis, a leading provider of
advanced and sustainable plastics and chemicals solutions. During
his 14-year tenure at Borealis, he held various executive positions
and was instrumental in growing the joint venture Borouge in the
Middle East ninefold. He started
his career at DuPont de Nemours, accumulating extensive global
experience in R&D, sales and marketing, operations and business
management. Mr. Stern holds a PhD in Material Science and a
Master's Degree in Polymer Engineering and Science, both from the
University of Leoben in Austria.
He has been awarded with the H.F. Mark
Medal, a DuPont Innovation Award, and a Prize of Honor from
the Austrian Ministry of Science and Research.
About Air Products
Air Products (NYSE:APD) is a world-leading industrial gases
company in operation for over 80 years focused on serving energy,
environmental, and emerging markets and generating a cleaner
future. The Company supplies essential industrial gases, related
equipment and applications expertise to customers in dozens of
industries, including refining, chemicals, metals, electronics,
manufacturing, medical and food. As the leading global supplier of
hydrogen, Air Products also develops, engineers, builds, owns and
operates some of the world's largest clean hydrogen projects,
supporting the transition to low- and zero-carbon energy in the
industrial and heavy-duty transportation sectors. Through its sale
of equipment businesses, the Company also provides turbomachinery,
membrane systems and cryogenic containers globally.
The Company had fiscal 2024 sales of $12.1 billion from operations in approximately 50
countries and has a current market capitalization of over
$65 billion. Approximately 23,000
passionate, talented and committed employees from diverse
backgrounds are driven by Air Products' higher purpose to create
innovative solutions that benefit the environment, enhance
sustainability and reimagine what's possible to address the
challenges facing customers, communities, and the world. For more
information, visit www.airproducts.com or follow us on LinkedIn, X,
Facebook or Instagram.
This release contains "forward-looking statements" within the
safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform
Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are based on
management's expectations and assumptions as of the date of this
release and are not guarantees of future performance. While
forward-looking statements are made in good faith and based on
assumptions, expectations and projections that management believes
are reasonable based on currently available information, actual
performance and financial results may differ materially from
projections and estimates expressed in the forward-looking
statements because of many factors, including the risk factors
described in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year
ended September 30, 2023 and other
factors disclosed in our filings with the Securities and Exchange
Commission. Except as required by law, we disclaim any obligation
or undertaking to update or revise any forward-looking statements
contained herein to reflect any change in the assumptions, beliefs
or expectations or any change in events, conditions or
circumstances upon which any such forward-looking statements are
based.
Important Additional Information and Where to Find It
Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (the "Company") plans to file
proxy materials with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission
(the "SEC") in connection with the solicitation of proxies for the
Company's 2025 annual meeting of shareholders (the "2025 Annual
Meeting"). Prior to the 2025 Annual Meeting, the Company will file
a definitive proxy statement (the "Proxy Statement") together with
a WHITE proxy card. SHAREHOLDERS ARE URGED TO READ THE PROXY
STATEMENT (INCLUDING ANY AMENDMENTS OR SUPPLEMENTS THERETO) AND ANY
OTHER RELEVANT DOCUMENTS THAT THE COMPANY WILL FILE WITH THE SEC
CAREFULLY AND IN THEIR ENTIRETY WHEN THEY BECOME AVAILABLE BECAUSE
THEY WILL CONTAIN IMPORTANT INFORMATION. Shareholders will be able
to obtain, free of charge, copies of the Proxy Statement, any
amendments or supplements thereto and any other documents
(including the WHITE proxy card) when filed by the Company with the
SEC at the SEC's website (http://www.sec.gov) or at the Company's
website https://investors.airproducts.com or by Innisfree M&A
Incorporated, toll-free at (877) 750-0537 banks and brokers call
collect at (212) 750-5833.
Certain Information Regarding Participants
The Company, its directors and certain of its executive officers
and other employees may be deemed to be "participants" (as defined
in Section 14(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as
amended) in the solicitation of proxies from shareholders in
connection with the 2025 Annual Meeting. Additional information
regarding the identity of these potential participants and their
direct or indirect interests, by security holdings or otherwise,
will be set forth in the Proxy Statement and other materials to be
filed with the SEC in connection with the 2025 Annual Meeting.
Information relating to the foregoing can also be found in the
Company's definitive proxy statement for its 2024 annual meeting of
shareholders, filed with the SEC on December
8, 2023. Information regarding the ownership of the Company
directors and executive officers in the shares of the Company
common stock is included in their SEC filings on Forms 3, 4, and 5,
which can be found at the SEC's website at www.sec.gov. More
detailed and updated information regarding the identity of
potential participants, and their direct or indirect interests (by
security holdings or otherwise), will be set forth in the proxy
statement and other materials to be filed with the SEC. These
documents can be obtained free of charge from the sources indicated
above.
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SOURCE Air Products