SWITZERLAND (News release) -- The Board of Directors of Archroma has appointed Heike van de Kerkhof to succeed current CEO Alexander Wessels effective January 6, 2020.

Mr. Wessels has held the CEO position at Archroma since the company was established in October 2013 and will be appointed as Vice Chairman of the Company's Board of Directors. He will also take on a Senior Advisory role within SK Capital working across its portfolio of investments, which includes Archroma.

Ms. van de Kerkhof joins Archroma from Castrol, the leading branded lubricant division of BP plc where she held the role of Vice President, Western Hemisphere, and was responsible for a business generating $2+ billion in annual revenues and having approximately 2,000 employees. Prior to BP, she held a variety of business leadership, commercial and operations roles at DuPont and The Chemours Company in a career spanning almost thirty years. She also served as a Non-Executive Director at Neste Oil.

Archroma is a global leader in color and specialty chemicals towards sustainable solutions.