RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C. - Reichhold Chairman, President and CEO John Gaither served as one of the featured speakers at a chemical industry conference in New York City.

In his remarks to the conference, Gaither emphasized that his company’s current management is not an equity fund looking for a quick resale of Reichhold. Rather, he explained the history of Reichhold’s entire Executive Team and its desire to create long-term value in the company.

Gaither’s presentation covered the current trend of many larger chemical companies seeking to divest themselves of smaller holdings. He noted that many companies within the industry are either going private or seeking funding through private equity.

On the issue of capacity, Gaither noted that utilization varies across markets and regions. Where one finds fairly high utilization within the North American unsaturated polyester resin (UPR) market (composites), there are more players and more free capacity in the UPR market in Europe.

Similarly, he pointed out the low capacity utilization within the coatings industry, with the same being true for Reichhold in this market.