A globally experienced executive with some plastics in his background has been appointed CEO of Klöckner Pentaplast Group.
Wayne Hewett takes the reins of the rigid plastic film major effective immediately, Klöckner Pentaplast announced Sept. 1. Hewett replaces former CEO Christian Holtmann, who resigned for personal reasons in February.
“I am delighted to join this fantastic company,” Hewett states in a news release. “Klöckner Pentaplast has made tremendous progress in delivering against its strategy, significantly improving its operating performance and balance sheet. I will leverage my experience to take KP's success story to the next level.”
Hewett recently held the post of president and CEO of Arysta LifeScience but he spent most of his career with General Electric Co. in the U.S. and internationally. His positions included vice president of GE Supply Chain and Operations, president and CEO of GE Advanced Materials, and member of GE's Corporate Executive Council.
For five years Hewett was an executive with GE Plastics Asia Pacific, and was its president when GE relocated the business's Asian headquarters from Tokyo to Shanghai in 2002 as the plastics company's sales in China grew rapidly.
Hewett, 50, was born in Jamaica to a family that moved to Miami in the 1970s. He studied industrial engineering at Stanford University and graduated with a Master's degree in the discipline in 1986. Almost immediately he joined General Electric and through management positions became exposed to a wide range of GE's materials and engineering businesses. In 1986 he moved into the world of finance as president and CEO of private investment firm Apollo Management.
“Wayne has driven a customer-centric focus in all the businesses he led and fostered an innovation culture to deliver strong performance,” noted Klöckner Pentaplast Chairman Bruno Deschamps in a news release.
Hewett has been on several boards of directors and currently is on the board of retailer The Home Depot. His community work has included membership in the American Foundation for the University of the West Indies and the Special Olympics of New York. He is married with three children.
Hewett joins Klöckner Pentaplast shortly after the company ended its search for a new owner. Up until last autumn, while it looked for a buyer, several firms reportedly were interested, including Apollo Global Management, an affiliate of the private equity that employed Hewett. Klöckner Pentaplast, based in Montabaur, Germany, is owned by an investor group led by Strategic Value Partners. The company employs more than 3,000 and has annual sales exceeding 1 billion euros ($1.13 billion).