Press Release
Dave Davis Named New CFO at Kraton Polymers
HOUSTON, TX (October 22, 2004) — The Board of Directors of Kraton Polymers has appointed Dave M. Davis, as Chief Financial Officer of Kraton Polymers, effective November 22, 2004. Davis succeeds Gary Spitz, who has previously announced his decision to leave the company. Private investment firms Texas Pacific Group (TPG) and JPMorgan Partners (JPMP), the private equity arm of J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., purchased Kraton Polymers from Ripplewood Holdings LLC in December 2003.
Davis comes to Kraton Polymers from US Airways Group, where he served as Executive Vice President, Finance, and Chief Financial Officer. At US Airways, he led all the finance functions, fleet planning, purchasing, information technology, corporate real estate, investor relations, and internal auditing. His previous business experience was with the Budget Group, Inc, Delta Airlines, and Northwest Airlines in various financial roles. He holds an M.B.A. in Finance and a B.S. in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Minnesota.
About Kraton Polymers
Kraton Polymers is a premier, global specialty chemicals company and the world’s largest producer of styrenic block copolymers (“SBCs”), a family of products whose chemistry was pioneered by the Company over forty years ago. SBCs enhance the performance of applications including adhesives, sealants, asphalt and bitumen modification, footwear, packaging, compounding and personal hygiene products. The Company has the leading position in all of its core markets and is the only producer of SBCs with global manufacturing capability. The Company has manufacturing facilities in Belpre, Ohio, The Netherlands, Germany, France, Brazil, and Japan. The business has annual revenues in excess of $700 million.
About Texas Pacific Group
Texas Pacific Group, founded in 1993 and based in Fort Worth, San Francisco and London, is a private investment partnership managing over US $13 billion in assets. TPG seeks to invest in world-class franchises across a range of industries, including significant investments in healthcare companies (Oxford Health Plans, Quintiles Transnational), leading retailers (Petco, J.Crew, Debenhams-UK), branded consumer franchises (Burger King, Del Monte, Ducati), technology companies (ON Semiconductor, MEMC, Seagate) airlines (Continental, America West) and chemical companies (Kraton Polymers).
About JP Morgan Partners
JPMorgan Partners (JPMP) is a global partnership with approximately $18 billion in capital under management (as of March 31, 2004). It is a leading provider of private equity and has closed over 1,300 individual transactions since its inception in 1984. JPMP has approximately 130 investment professionals in nine principal offices throughout the world. JPMorgan Partners is the private equity arm of JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM), one of the largest financial institutions in the United States. For additional information, please visit our website at http://www.jpmorganpartners.com
About Kraton
Kraton Polymers LLC is a premier, global specialty chemicals company and is the world’s largest producer of styrenic block copolymers (“SBCs”), a family of products whose chemistry was pioneered by Kraton over forty years ago. SBCs are highly-engineered synthetic elastomers, which enhance the performance of products by delivering a variety of attributes, including greater flexibility, resilience, strength, durability and processability. Kraton polymers are used in a wide range of applications including road and roofing materials, numerous consumer products (e.g., diapers, tool handles and toothbrushes), tapes, labels, medical applications, packaging, automotive and footwear products. Kraton has the leading position in nearly all of its core markets and is the only producer of SBCs with global manufacturing capability. Its production facilities are located in the United States, The Netherlands, Germany, France, Brazil, and Japan.
Polymer Holdings LLC is the parent company of Kraton Polymers LLC and has no material assets other than its investment in Kraton Polymers LLC.
Kraton, the Kraton logo and design are trademarks of Kraton Polymers LLC.
Forward Looking Statements
This presentation may include “forward-looking statements” which are statements other than statements of historical fact and are often characterized by the use of words such as “believes,” “expects,” “estimates,” “projects,” “may,” “will,” “intends,” “plans” or “anticipates,” or by discussions of strategy, plans or intentions. All forward-looking statements in this presentation are made based on management's current expectations and estimates, which involve risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause results to differ materially from those expressed in forward-looking statements. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. We assume no obligation to update such information.
