Company Information

Based in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, Akzo Nobel Chemicals makes and supplies a huge range of paints, coatings and specialty chemicals. The company was founded in 1777, and in the 19th century pioneered industrial-scale chemical manufacture.

As a major producer of specialty chemicals, Akzo Nobel Chemicals has 60,000 employees based in more than 80 countries.

Company Officers

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  Ton Büchner

  CEO and Board Chairman

  Prior to joining AkzoNobel, Ton Büchner, a Dutch national, was the president and CEO of Sulzer Corp. Büchner earned his master of science in civil engineering at Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands. He also has an MBA from IMD in Lausanne, Switzerland, and has attended the Stanford Executive Program in Palo Alto, Calif. His early career was spent in the oil and gas construction industry at Allseas Engineering in Europe and AkerKvaerner in Southeast Asia before joining Sulzer in 1994. Büchner worked in a range of Sulzer operations until his appointment to the executive committee as a divisional president in 2001.
  

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  Keith Nichols

  Chief Financial Officer

  Nichols joined AkzoNobel in December 2005 from Corus Group plc where he held the position of Group Treasurer, bringing extensive international finance experience. Prior to joining Corus, he held a number of senior finance positions within the TNT Post Group.

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  Conrad Keijzer

  Executive committee member responsible for performance coatings

  Keijzer joined AkzoNobel in 1994 as market development manager in AkzoNobel’s Industrial Chemicals business. Since then, he has held various management positions within the AkzoNobel Performance Coatings and Specialty Chemicals business areas.
  
  In 2004, Conrad was appointed global director for automotive plastic coatings. In 2008, he served as managing director for AkzoNobel Packaging Coatings and later as managing director for AkzoNobel Industrial Coatings.
  

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  Werner Fuhrmann

  Board Member responsible for Integrated Supply Chain and Specialty Chemicals

  Werner Fuhrmann has held various positions in the field of finance, including controller of AkzoNobel's specialty chemicals. He was later appointed general manager of chelates and sulphur products in 2000. He then became managing director of industrial chemicals in 2005, which he held until he took on his current role in 2011. Werner is chairman of the Dutch Chemicals Industry Association and board member of the European Chemicals Association.