Vesuvius Regulatory News (VSVS)

27 November 2012

Appointment of Finance Director of Alent plc

Cookson Group plc ("Cookson") announced on 1 November 2012 that the Performance Materials division is to be demerged to form a new London listed specialty chemicals company, Alent plc ("Alent"). These proposals were approved by the Court Meeting and the General Meeting of Cookson Shareholders on 26 November 2012 and the demerger is expected to become effective on 19 December 2012.

Cookson announces today that David Egan will become Finance Director of Alent with effect from 1 January 2013. 

Mr Egan is currently the Chief Financial Officer at ESAB, which was the largest division of Charter International plc which was itself acquired by Colfax Corporation in 2012.

Prior to joining ESAB in 2008, Mr Egan was Group Financial Controller of Hanson plc based in London, and prior to that Chief Financial Officer, Hanson Asia Pacific based in Singapore. He has extensive international experience of businesses in Europe, including the Russian Federation, Asia, Australasia, and the Americas.

Mr Egan is a qualified Certified Practicing Accountant (CPA), Australia and is a dual British and Australian citizen.

Peter Hill, Chairman designate of Alent, said:

"I look forward to welcoming David, with his wealth of experience in senior and international finance roles, to Alent's board. His appointment completes the line-up of what I believe will be a strong and experienced Board, with the depth and mix of skills to maximise the opportunities for Alent and its shareholders, as a stand-alone company."

As previously announced, Mike Butterworth, currently Group Finance Director of Cookson, will act as Interim Finance Director for Alent from listing until 1 January 2013.

No disclosure obligations arise under paragraphs (1) to (6) of LR 9.6.13 R of the UK Listing Authority's Listing Rules in respect of this appointment.

Ends

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About Alent plc:

Alent will comprise what is currently the Performance Materials division of Cookson, a leading global supplier of advanced surface treatment plating chemicals and electronics assembly materials.

Alent's principal end-market is global electronics production, accounting for approximately three quarters of revenue, with the other quarter represented by the automotive and other industrial markets.

Alent will be organised into two business segments:

·; Assembly Materials, trading as Alpha and supplying electronic interconnect materials to assemblers of printed circuit boards (PCBs) and the semiconductor packaging industry

·; Surface Chemistries, trading as Enthone and supplying specialty electroplating chemicals and services for use in semiconductors and PCB fabrication, as well as corrosion resistant/decorative coatings for various industries, particularly the automotive industry.

Alent had net sales value of £418 million and an adjusted trading profit of £96 million in the year ended 31 December 2011. The net sales value was split broadly one third in each of Europe, Asia and the Americas.

Alent is present in over 100 countries and has over 2,500 employees and 23 manufacturing sites worldwide. This enables Alent to supply its customers with highly engineered and customised specialty chemicals and materials on a just in time basis from its strategic locations around the world.

Alent's Board will comprise:

Peter Hill CBE Non-Executive Chairman

Steve Corbett Chief Executive

David Egan Finance Director

Dr Emma FitzGerald Non-Executive

Lars Förberg Non-Executive

Noël Harwerth Non-Executive; Chairman of the Remuneration Committee

Jan Oosterveld Non-Executive

Mark Williamson Non-Executive; Senior Independent Director; Chairman of Audit Committee