BASF forms Specialty Products Department

News from BASF this morning. The company is taking their turf, pest and vegetation management segments and merging them into one group known as the Specialty Products Department. Jan Buberl will be the director of this group. Brian Lish and Dan Carrothers, meanwhile, take new titles and roles.

The press release is below. We have a conference call scheduled for later today, so there may be an update later:

 

BASF announced it will take its distinct businesses within the U.S. non-crop markets and merge them into one. The primary businesses known as Pest Control Solutions and Professional Turf & Ornamentals (T&O), and secondary businesses including Professional Vegetation Management and Market Business Development, will now collectively be known to the marketplace as the BASF Specialty Products Department (SPD). Each respective market will continue to be served, but BASF will do so as one business unit led by Jan Buberl, Director of Specialty Products.

“Having these businesses come together as one strengthens BASF and its commitment to the specialty markets, and the acquisition of Becker Underwood underscores a continued commitment and investment to grow,” said Nevin McDougall, Senior Vice President, North America, BASF Crop Protection. “The new SPD unit will be built to last for the long term, while meeting the needs of customers in these markets.”

“We are merging the businesses to stay ahead of the curve of the industries we serve,” said Buberl. “As the T&O and Pest Control markets move closer together, this merger puts us in a position to better serve our customers.”

Key changes related to this reorganization include the business manager roles of PCS

and T&O being dissolved and consolidation of the PCS and T&O marketing departments.

Dan Carrothers, formerly PCS Business Manager, and Brian Lish, formerly T&O

Business Manager, assume the newly created roles of SPD Marketing Manager and

Strategic Account Manager, respectively. Both Carrothers and Lish will report directly

to Jan Buberl.

In addition to a strategic account sales structure and approach, SPD sales also includes

an inside sales force and a traditional field sales approach that is divided into three regions

for both key businesses. Three regional sales managers overseeing these territories will

have both T&O and PCS field sales representatives reporting to them and those sales

reps will remain dedicated to the respective markets they serve. Both the inside and field

sales teams will be led by Jim Derbyshire, National Sales Manager, who will also report

to Buberl.

With this merger comes the move of the PCS business, currently located in St. Louis, Missouri, to Research Triangle Park, North Carolina. The new SPD business structure will be in place by March 31, 2013.

For more information about the Specialty Products Department visit www.agro.basf.us.