Maersk Names Patrick Jany CFO

By Nina Trentmann and Costas Paris 

A.P. Moeller-Maersk A/S said Wednesday that Patrick Jany will become its new finance chief, filling a key opening as the Danish shipping giant rebuilds its leadership team.

Mr. Jany will start in his new role May 1. He joins from Swiss chemical company Clariant International Ltd., where he had been CFO since 2006. Mr. Jany also will become a member of the executive board at Maersk, the parent of Maersk Line, the world's largest operator of container ships.

As CFO, Mr. Jany is expected to steer Maersk's efforts to control spending and generate more revenue from its inland logistics operations, as the ocean transport business undergoes a period of falling demand amid slower global growth and the effects of the coronavirus epidemic.

Maersk had been looking for a new finance chief since November, when Carolina Dybeck Happe announced she was leaving the CFO role to take up the same post at General Electric Co. She had been in the position at Maersk for less than a year.

Ms. Dybeck Happe's exit was among a series of departures at Maersk, which has been refilling core executive positions and rebuilding its board.

In December, Maersk named Vincent Clerc as chief executive of its ocean and logistics division. He assumed some of the duties of Søren Toft, who resigned as chief operating officer in November. The company also recently promoted Henriette Hallberg Thygesen -- who previously ran Maersk's salvage company, Svitzer -- to the role of CEO of towage and manufacturing. She was also named a member of Maersk's executive board.

Maersk in November also said it would slash hundreds of jobs to cut costs as the company prepares for significantly higher fuel costs.

Clariant said Wednesday that Stephan Lynen will fill the CFO vacancy created by Mr. Jany's departure. Mr. Lynen, who assumes the role on April 1, currently leads Clariant's additives business. He has been with the company for more than 20 years in various management and business roles, according to Clariant.

Mr. Lynen brings experience that reflects the broadening role of the chief financial officer, including positions involving internal audits, finance and information technology, Clariant said.

Mr. Jany helped steer Clariant through a strategy revamp following pressure from activists in 2017 to drop plans to merge with U.S.-based Huntsman Corp. The company's then-CEO, Ernesto Occhiello, left in July 2019. Clariant's plans to form a specialty plastics venture with Saudi Basic Industries Corp. were halted soon after.

Clariant in December agreed to sell its Masterbatches unit to U.S.-based polymer materials provider PolyOne Corp. for $1.6 billion as part of a wider portfolio review. It is now seeking a buyer for its pigments business, a process that is expected to close by year's end.

Hariolf Kottmann, Clariant's executive chairman and interim CEO, credited Mr. Jany with playing a key role in the development of Clariant, a spinoff of pharmaceuticals company Sandoz, a division of Swiss drug giant Novartis AG.

Mr. Jany established strong relationships with the financial community that were vital to implementing Clariant's strategy, the company said in a statement.

-- Dominic Chopping and Giulia Petroni contributed to this article.

Write to Nina Trentmann at [e-mail] and Costas Paris at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 12, 2020 16:47 ET (21:47 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2020 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.