Tosoh Corporation Shuffles Top Management
Tokyo, Japan, April 17, 2009—Tosoh Corporation today announced changes in its top management. Madoka Tashiro will step down as the Company’s chairman and CEO to become an executive adviser to the Company while remaining a member of the Tosoh Board of Directors. Takashi Tsuchiya will vacate the presidency of the Company to become Tosoh’s chairman and CEO. And Kenichi Udagawa will move up from his position as managing director to assume his new role as the president of the Company. These changes will take effect on June 26, 2009, when nominations are made official during the Board of Directors’ Meeting scheduled to follow the 2009 Annual Shareholders’ Meeting. The decision to rejuvenate the Board was undertaken to strengthen core operations and promote overall growth and higher profitability.
Madoka Tashiro’s long and distinguished career at Tosoh Corporation began in 1956. In 1964, he established Tosoh’s first overseas office, in New York, and has since led the Company’s global expansion. He was particularly active in building out the Tosoh Group worldwide during his tenure as Tosoh’s chairman of the Board, which began in 2001. Mr. Tashiro’s achievements as chairman are numerous, and he will continue to play a vital role in guiding the Tosoh Group as an executive adviser.
Takashi Tsuchiya, meanwhile, has served as president of Tosoh since 2001. In addition to his background in chemical engineering, he brings to the table exceptional business judgment and expertise in adapting quickly to changing operating environments. Mr. Tsuchiya thus is the ideal man to lead the Company going forward. When he headed Corporate Strategy and Planning at Tosoh he demonstrated sound capabilities in restructuring. His efforts strengthened the Company’s vinyl chain and Specialty Group and significantly improved the Company’s profitability.
Kenichi Udagawa began his career with Tosoh Corporation in 1972 after graduating from the prestigious Tokyo Institute of Technology, where he studied polymer science in the Department of Engineering. Mr. Udagawa has served in various capacities as a member of the Tosoh Board of Directors and headed diverse strategic and planning groups at Tosoh headquarters. In 2008, he was made a managing director of Tosoh Corporation with responsibility for the Nanyo Complex.
Management Profiles
Madoka Tashiro
Madoka Tashiro graduated from the College of Arts and Sciences of the prestigious Tokyo University before beginning his career at Tosoh Corporation. He joined Toyo Soda Manufacturing Co., Ltd., which later changed its name to Tosoh Corporation, in 1956. In 1964, Mr. Tashiro was transferred to New York to set up the Company’s first overseas representative office. From 1979 to 1986, he served as general manager for the following then corporate divisions: International Operations (1979); Corporate Strategy and Planning (1981); New Business Development (1984); and Scientific Instruments (1986). Mr. Tashiro was appointed a director and a member of Tosoh’s Board in 1985. He later became the senior general manager of the Corporate Strategy and Planning Division before being made a senior managing director of Tosoh Corporation in 1990. In 1992, Mr. Tashiro was elected Tosoh’s president and chief executive officer. He served as the Company’s chairman and chief executive officer from 2001 to the present.
Among numerous posts outside the Company, Mr. Tashiro most recently has held or holds these positions:
Chairman, Polymer Technology Executives’ Society, Japan
Counselor, Chemical Society of Japan
Takashi Tsuchiya
Takashi Tsuchiya studied chemical engineering at the Tokyo Institute of Technology. He graduated in 1965 and entered Tosoh Corporation the same year. By 1987, he had become the general manager of PPS production at the Yokkaichi Complex. He was then appointed Tosoh’s administrative general manager for Production and Technology in 1990. In 1991, he became the group leader of Business Planning for Corporate Strategy and Planning. He also was made an associate director in 1993 and then a full director and the senior general manager of Corporate Strategy and Planning in 1995. While retaining the latter position, Mr. Tsuchiya was appointed managing director in 1996; senior managing director in 1999; and, in June 2001, the president of Tosoh Corporation.
Among numerous posts outside the Company, Mr. Tsuchiya most recently has held or holds these positions:
Director, Japan Petrochemical Industry Association
Member of the Board of Directors, Nippon Keidanren
Chairman, Vinyl Environmental Council, Japan
Kenichi Udagawa
Kenichi Udagawa majored in polymer science in the Department of Engineering at the prestigious Tokyo Institute of Technology. He began his career with Tosoh Corporation in 1972 following his graduation. In 1996, he became team leader for overseas PVC projects and was appointed deputy general manager of the Quartz Division. He took on the additional role of Corporate Strategy and Planning group leader for Production and Technology and for Group Companies Strategy in 2000. His management of Tosoh’s aniline capacity expansion project began in 2003, and in 2004 he was appointed overall general project leader for the establishment of Tosoh (Guangzhou) Chemical Industries, Inc., in China. While continuing to head various strategic and planning groups at Tosoh headquarters, Mr. Udagawa was appointed a Tosoh Corporation associate director in 2001 and a director in 2004. In 2008, he became a managing director and responsible for the Nanyo Complex.
TOSOH CORPORATION
WHO WE ARE
Tosoh Corporation is a Japanese chemical company established in 1935 and listed on the First Section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange. It is the parent of the Tosoh Group, which comprises 140 companies worldwide and a multiethnic workforce of over 11,000 people and generated net sales of ¥827.4 billion (US$8.3 billion at the year-end rate of ¥100.19 to the US dollar) in fiscal 2007, ended March 31, 2008.
WHAT WE DO
Tosoh is one of the largest chlor-alkali manufacturers in Asia. The Company supplies the plastic resins and an array of the basic chemicals that support modern life. Tosoh’s petrochemical operations supply ethylene, polymers, and polyethylene, while its electronic materials business serves the global semiconductor and flat-panel display industries. Tosoh has also pioneered sophisticated bioscience systems that are used for the rapid diagnosis of life-threatening diseases, such as diabetes and certain cancers, and to prevent epidemics by identifying pathogenic microbes. In addition, Tosoh develops products and provides services to purify water and to monitor the environment as part of a commitment to a sustainable future.
Stock Exchange Ticker Symbol: 4042
For more information in general, please contact
Michael Hoover
International Corporate Development
Tosoh Corporation
michael.hoover@tosoh.com
Tel: +81-3-5427-5118
Fax: +81-3-5427-5198
www.tosoh.com