Cognis names new CFO

SPECIALTY chemicals company, Cognis, announced that Klaus Edelmann will leave the position of chief financial officer on October 1, 2009, and become a member of the supervisory board. His designated successor as CFO is Marco Panichi, whose appointment was formalized by the supervisory board at its meeting in September. Edelmann has been CFO of Cognis since November 2006. Under his leadership, the company's financing structure and liquidity position have been significantly improved and its debt has been reduced. His contributions have been instrumental in helping Cognis to weather the current tough economic times successfully. Panichi was most recently group vice president of Corporate Controlling and Development at Cognis GmbH, reporting directly to Edelmann. From 2006 until the end of 2008, Panichi was based in Malaysia as CFO of the Cognis Oleochemical global joint venture. As head of Corporate Development from 2002 to 2005, he made a major contribution to the implementation of strategy, particularly the decision to focus on Cognis?core businesses.ADIDAS