Jacob Holm names Paul Marold as future COO of the Sontara business; closing of acquisition expected in Q3 2014
CLOVERDALE, CA, Aug. 12, 2014 (Nonwovens Markets) – Jacob Holm & Sønner Holdings A/S is moving quickly to prepare the way for its coming acquisition of Dupont’s Sontara® business. Jacob Holm said today it has appointed Paul Marold as chief operating officer of the company’s Sontara® business division. It also confirmed that the acquisition is expected to close during the current calendar quarter.
The company added that “Starting in the second half of August 2014, he will be operationally responsible for Sontara® once the acquisition of Sontara® from DuPont Protection Technologies is completed.”
Most recently Marold was senior vice president, growth and innovation for Clarcor, a US-based filtration company. Jacob Holm noted that he worked at Ahlstrom for more than a decade, with his latest role in that company being as senior vice president for advanced materials.
“As I set the team for the successful future of Sontara®, I’m happy to announce that Paul has accepted the position as COO for Jacob Holm’s Sontara® business division”, said Martin Mikkelsen, CEO of Jacob Holm. He added that “Paul is a seasoned and trusted leader who brings in very valuable industry experience from the medical fabrics segment. Over a decade he has contributed significantly to the performance of Ahlstrom, a key player in the non-woven industry. As such he is uniquely qualified to drive strategic prioritization and growth within Jacob Holm’s Sontara® business division.”
Jacob Holm presumably felt that Marold’s background at Clarcor and at Ahlstrom was interesting given the company’s emerging strategy for the Sontara® business. Mikkelsen recently explained to Nonwovens Markets that “In terms of the attractions, the acquisition brings us to a better segmented footing with the same technology base of spunlace. With Sontara® we will manage to serve applications that are complementary to our current portfolio, which is attractive to us as a business. It brings us additional application legs, you might say, versus mainly focusing on wet wipes.”
DuPont makes a wide variety of Sontara® wipes, serving applications ranging from heavy- and light-duty industrial dry wiping to products specifically aimed at aerospace, automotive refinishing, cleanrooms, window cleaning, pharmaceuticals and food preparation, among others.
