LUDWIGSHAFEN, Germany – BASF announced that on April 1, 2017, Hartwig Michels, President, Regional Division Europe, Ludwigshafen, will take over as President, Petrochemicals, Ludwigshafen. He succeeds Dr. Rainer Diercks, who will retire effective March 31, 2017.

Dr. Markus Kramer, President, Dispersions & Pigments, BASF East Asia Regional Headquarters Ltd., Hong Kong, will succeed Michels effective April 1, 2017, as President, Regional Division Europe, Ludwigshafen.

Gops Pillay, President, Regional Division South & East Asia, BASF East Asia Regional Headquarters Ltd., Hong Kong, will take over as President Dispersions & Pigments, Hong Kong, effective March 1, 2017.

Dr. Andrea Frenzel, Senior Vice President, Strategic Planning, Ludwigshafen, will succeed Pillay effective March 1, 2017, as President, Regional Division South & East Asia, Hong Kong.

Dr. Melanie Maas-Brunner, Senior Vice President, Performance Materials Europe, Ludwigshafen, will take over as President Nutrition & Health, Lampertheim, Germany, effective April 1, 2017. She succeeds Saori Dubourg, who the Supervisory Board of BASF SE appointed to the Board of Executive Directors effective May 13, 2017.

Dirk Bremm, Senior Vice President, Construction Chemicals Americas, Beachwood, Ohio, takes over as President Coatings, Münster, Germany, effective April 1, 2017. The current head of the division, Dr. Markus Kamieth, was appointed to the Board of Executive Directors effective May 13, 2017, by the Supervisory Board of BASF SE.

The company also announced that Margret Suckale will retire with the expiration of her contract following the Annual Shareholders Meeting on May 12, 2017. At the same time, Dr. Harald Schwager will leave BASF’s Board of Executive Directors in support of long-term succession planning. Schwager has been with BASF for 28 years. He was appointed to the board in 2008 and is currently responsible for the divisions Construction Chemicals; Crop Protection; Bioscience Research; and Region Europe. Suckale joined BASF in 2009 and has been on the board since 2011. She is Industrial Relations Director and responsible for the divisions Engineering & Maintenance; Environmental Protection, Health & Safety; European Site & Verbund Management; and Human Resources.