Paul Allen (53), member of the Executive Committee and previously head of Cognis’ Nutrition & Health strategic business unit (SBU), took over as Group Vice President of Functional Products on November 1, 2005. He replaced Guido Willems (46), who will leave the company at the end of the year to become member of the Management Board at another chemical company. Paul Allen will seek to further develop Functional Products’ market position, and to enhance its reputation for creating trend-setting innovations, customized formulations and sustainable solutions for customers in a range of industries, including polymers, coatings and inks, synlubes technology, lubricants, agriculture and mining technology. In 2004 the business unit generated sales of 772 million euros. Allen will remain President of Cognis Corporation, USA, with the head office in Cincinnati, Ohio.

After studying foreign languages and economics at the University of Bath in the UK and the Freie Universität in Berlin, Germany, Allen went on to study at the London Institute of Purchasing and Supply. This was followed by positions at several international companies, before becoming European business manager of Diamond Shamrock Process Chemicals in 1985. After this company was acquired by Henkel, Allen took over as head of Henkel Canada in 1988. From 1991, he worked at Henkel Corporation (later Cognis Corporation) in the USA and was employed in a variety of posts. Mr. Allen has been leading the Nutrition & Health SBU since 2002.

His successor as head of Nutrition & Health, and thus also as a Cognis Executive Committee member, is Stéphane Baseden (46), who was Vice President of the Nutrition & Health business unit in Europe. Mr. Baseden will continue in his role of Legal Representative of Cognis France and will be located in Saint-Fargeau-Ponthierry near Paris. The Nutrition & Health SBU generated sales of 287 million euros in 2004 and provides high quality natural-source ingredients, formulations and market-oriented concepts for food, functional food, beverages, dietary supplement and pharmaceutical industries - including food emulsifiers, plant phytosterols, Vitamin E, mixed carotenoids and pharmaceutical excipients.

Mr. Baseden holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Surrey, England, and an MBA from ISSEC, France. Prior to joining Cognis in 2003, he had over 20 years’ experience of management positions in a variety of functions and locations within the Unilever group, where his last position was Senior Vice President of Diversey Lever.

About Cognis
Cognis is a worldwide supplier of innovative specialty chemicals and nutritional ingredients. The company employs about 8,100 people, and it operates production sites and service centers in 30 countries. Cognis has dedicated its activities to a high level of sustainability and delivers natural source raw materials and ingredients for food, nutrition and healthcare markets, and the cosmetics, detergents and cleaners industries. Additionally, Cognis provides solutions for a number of other industries, such as coatings and inks, lubricants, textiles and plastics, as well as agriculture and mining.

Cognis is owned by private equity funds advised by Permira, GS Capital Partners, and SV Life Sciences. In 2004, Cognis recorded sales of 3.07 billion euros and an Adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interest, income taxes, depreciation, amortization and exceptional items) of 362 million euros.