Albemarle announces leadership roles for bromine and lithium businesses

BATON ROUGE, La., Oct. 26, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Albemarle Corporation (NYSE: ALB) announced today that it has named leaders for its bromine and lithium businesses which, effective as of the beginning of 2016, will report directly to President and CEO Luke Kissam.

Raphael Crawford will serve as president, Bromine Specialties.  Crawford joined Albemarle in 2012 as the vice president for Performance Catalyst Solutions.  Most recently, he has been the vice president for Synthesis and Polymer Solutions as well as the Managing Director of Rockwood Lithium GmbH.  Prior to joining Albemarle, he served in roles of increasing responsibility with Rohm and Haas Company and The Dow Chemical Company, including director of Global Marketing for Dow Coating Materials, global commercial director and global product director for Dow Water and Process Solutions and various commercial positions at Rohm and Haas Company.

John Mitchell will serve as president, Lithium & Advanced Materials, which will include responsibility for Lithium, Performance Catalyst Solutions and Curatives.  Mitchell joined Albemarle as a result of the acquisition of Rockwood Holdings in 2015.  With Rockwood Lithium, he served as president of North America since 2011.  He previously served as senior advisor to The Linde Group's African and South American businesses, president of Environmental Management Corporation, and held a variety of general management, commercial, strategy and corporate development positions within The BOC Group, a global industrial gases company.

"Raphael and John are proven leaders who, together with their world-class teams, will drive improvements in these businesses," said Luke Kissam, Albemarle's president and chief executive officer.  "These reporting lines will provide focus to the respective businesses allow us to maintain the operational efficiencies and synergies between these businesses that were identified in the integration process."

About Albemarle
Albemarle Corporation, headquartered in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, is a premier specialty chemicals company with leading positions in attractive end markets around the world. With a broad customer reach and diverse end markets, Albemarle develops, manufactures and markets technologically advanced and high value added products, including lithium and lithium compounds, bromine and bromine derivatives, catalysts and surface treatment chemistries used in a wide range of applications including consumer electronics, flame retardants, metal processing, plastics, contemporary and alternative transportation vehicles, refining, pharmaceuticals, agriculture, construction and custom chemistry services. Albemarle is focused on delivering differentiated, performance-based technologies that deliver innovative and sustainable solutions to its customers. The Company employs approximately 6,900 people and serves customers in approximately 100 countries. Albemarle regularly posts information to www.albemarle.com, including notification of events, news, financial performance, investor presentations and webcasts, Regulation G reconciliations, SEC filings and other information regarding the Company, its businesses and the markets it serves.

"Safe Harbor" Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: Statements in this press release regarding Albemarle Corporation's business that are not historical facts are "forward-looking statements" that involve risks and uncertainties. For a discussion of such risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements, see "Risk Factors" in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K and its Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q.

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SOURCE Albemarle Corporation