Gypsum industry news

Brazil: Trevo Drywall has appointed Paulo César Pereira Alencar as its new CEO. Alencar has 35 years of business experience as a tax lawyer, and holds a law degree from the Regional University of Cariri.

The company additionally appointed Gabriel Rodrigues Granja de Alencar as its chief financial officer. Granja de Alencar previously worked as a director at plaster producer Gesso Trevo, as well as in the area of compliance at consultancy firm Ernst & Young. He holds a postgraduate degree in business management.

US: Oklahoma-based ACG Materials has appointed Paul Harrington as its new CEO. ACG Materials is a national provider of minerals, aggregates and related downstream products including gypsum, limestone, sand, gravel and anhydrite.

Paul Harrington joined ACG Materials in July 2014 as president and COO. Prior to July 2014, Harrington was executive vice president at Rain for Rent. Before that, he spent 24 years working for Holcim.

Spain: Uralita has appointed Javier Gonzalez as its new CEO after former CEO Javier Serratosa stepped down as a result of a debt refinancing agreement.

The refinancing contract granted private equity company KKR Fund control over the majority of the capital of Uralita's insulation subsidiary Ursa, which generated approximately 70% of the company's consolidated revenue in 2014. Serratosa, who continues to maintain a stake in Uralita, will thus assume the presidency of Ursa, in which Uralita will continue to hold a 10% stake. Uralita additionally reinforced its executive team through the appointment of Gonzalo Serratosa as vice president.

US: Continental Building Products (CBP) has appointed James 'Jay' Bachmann to the position of president and CEO, effective immediately. Bachmann has served as interim CEO since November 2014 and CFO since January 2014. He will continue to serve as CFO in an interim role, pending the appointment of a permanent CFO.

CBP has also announced the appointment of Dennis Romps to the position of chief accounting officer (CAO). Romps will also continue to serve as senior vice president and corporate controller, positions he has held since January 2014.

Bachmann formerly served as CFO at Lafarge USA and co-chief financial officer of Lafarge North America from November 2012 through December 2013. He also held multiple executive responsibilities at Lafarge since 2002, including senior vice president of finance (Investor Relations) of Lafarge SA from January 2008 through October 2012 and senior vice president and controller of Lafarge North America from November 2005 to June 2006. Prior to Lafarge, he worked at Arthur Anderson from September 1990 to April 2002.

Romps previously served as CBP's CFO from August 2013 to December 2013. He formerly served as co-chief financial officer of Lafarge North America from December 2006 until August 2013, while also holding a variety of vice president positions in finance, IT and supply chain of the gypsum division of Lafarge North America from 2005 until August 2013.

US: The Fifth Federal Reserve District member banks have elected CEO Tom Nelson to serve as a director of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond. His three-year term begins on 1 January 2015.

The Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond is one of 12 district banks that work with the Federal Reserve's Board of Governors to strengthen the economy and communities served by the banks. The Richmond bank includes the District of Columbia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia and most of West Virginia.

Nelson will be one of nine board directors of the Richmond institution. He has been chairman, president and CEO of National Gypsum since 1999. He also serves as a director of Belk Inc, Carolinas HealthCare System and Yum! Brands Inc.

Belgium: Etex has announced that from 1 January 2015, a new leader will take the helm. Fons Peeters, the current CEO of Etex, will retire at the end of 2014 after 41 years with Etex, the last four of which he was CEO. Paul Van Oyen, currently the head of the Promat Division, will take over his role.

"On behalf of the board of directors, I would like to thank Fons Peeters for his immense dedication during his long career at Etex," said chairman of the board, Jean-Louis de Cartier de Marchienne. "His exceptional guidance proved to be an important added value for our company and ought to be an inspiration to all of us, since he helped to shape Etex as we know it today."

On 1 January 2015 Paul Van Oyen will take up the position. Before joining Etex, he worked for several years as a researcher and technologist. His career at Etex spans 24 years, during which period he gained both expertise and experience in different regions and different divisions of the company. Business development manager and head of the Eastern European business are some of his past roles. He has been developing Promat, Etex's high-performance insulation and passive fire protection division, since 2011. Paul Van Oyen has been appointed until the end of 2021 with the mission of pursuing further Etex's ambitious long-term strategy, which focuses on both internal and external growth.

"In order to trigger organic growth, Etex will maintain its capital expenditure programme with yearly investments of about Euro200m," said Jean-Louis de Cartier de Marchienne. "At the same time, the group will further reduce its debt, aiming at a debt ratio below two, which should open up future growth possibilities. In light of these ambitious plans, the board of directors and Etex's 17,500 employees wish Paul Van Oyen every success in guiding Etex on a path of continuous growth."