There's been a management shakeup at Nexeo Plastics, a leading resin distribution firm.
Board member Michael Modak has been named interim CEO. He replaces Shawn Williams, who sources said has left the company.
Modak is a chemicals and plastics veteran who most recently served as CEO of additives maker PolyAd Services from 2014-17. He also is an operating partner at Nexeo majority owner One Rock Capital Partners LLC.
Officials with The Woodlands, Texas-based Nexeo announced changes on June 1 that "are designed to drive growth and provide superior, targeted service to customers."
Those changes include the realignment of Nexeo's North American sales organization. That unit's inside sales team is being expanded and application development and technical service resources are being increased. Officials said those changes will enable Nexeo to better serve new and existing large, midsized and small customers across a range of end markets.
In addition to the CEO move, Austin Nichols has been named vice president of product line and market management. Officials said that in that role, he'll work closely with suppliers to grow high-value market opportunities. Nichols joined Nexeo in March after 10 years with chemicals distributor Univar Solutions, Nexeo's previous owner.
Jeff Collier, vice president of commercial sales, North America, will continue to oversee the North American sales organization.
Nexeo "will continue to draw on the proven expertise of the rest of its global management team and established infrastructure, which remains in place," officials said.
Williams had been with Nexeo since 2012 and had been CEO since April 2019. Prior to Nexeo, he had more than 20 years of experience with General Electric Co. and Momentive Performance Materials.
Nexeo has had a busy two years. In September 2018, Univar announced plans to acquire Nexeo, which at the time was a publicly held plastics and chemicals distributor, for $1.8 billion. Univar officials quickly said they planned to exit Nexeo's plastics business, which was sold to One Rock for $640 million in February 2019.
Nexeo officials said June 1 that the changes will provide customers with greater coverage, faster quotation times and increased product availability. They added that the firm is adding to its technical resources and application development to help customers select appropriate products and optimize their processes.
Officials also said that both Nexeo and its customers will benefit from expanded inside sales, rebalanced field sales territories, heightened supplier collaboration and new digital capabilities and marketing strategies.
In the release, Modak said that the organizational changes "support our strategy of providing a superior experience to customers by aligning our sales coverage to fit their demands."
"As we realign and enhance Nexeo Plastics to compete, succeed and grow, this tailored, high-touch approach will allow us to act as a true extension of our suppliers' businesses and better understand and execute on our customers' needs," he said.
Nexeo has annual sales estimated at around $2 billion. The firm distributes resins and compounds in North America, Europe and Asia for more than 30 suppliers.
The company's history dates back to resin distribution pioneer General Polymers, which was founded in 1973 and sold to Ashland Inc. in 1983. Ashland then sold the business to TPG Capital for almost $1 billion in 2011. TPG renamed the business Nexeo and took it public in 2016.