At the start of January 2022, Bhavesh V. “Bob” Patel, currently CEO of LyondellBasell (LYB, Houston, Texas / USA; www.lyondellbasell.com), will take over as new chief executive of W.R. Grace (Columbia, Maryland / USA; www.grace.com). Patel’s tenure will begin after US conglomerate Standard Industries (Parsippany-Troy Hills, New Jersey; www.standardindustries.com) completes its acquisition of the polymer technology firm, expected in the final quarter of 2021 (see Plasteurope.com of 04.05.2021). He will succeed Hudson La Force, who has been CEO of Grace since 2018 and will become a member of Standard’s advisory board.

This is the second time in the past week that the LYB leader’s career choices have been in the news. On 25 August, the olefins and polyolefins group announced that the 54-year-old would retire on 31 December 2021 after serving as CEO and a member of the board of directors since 2015 (see Plasteurope.com of 27.08.2021). A sub-committee is being tasked with the search for a successor. David Winter and David Millstone, Standard’s co-CEOs, said, “Patel has proven himself to be the right person to lead Grace’s exceptional team and help architect Standard’s investment in the advanced materials space.”