NORWALK, CT – To support future growth and to more effectively focus the company, R.T. Vanderbilt Co. Inc. has reorganized its North American operations around three new wholly owned subsidiaries.  

The reorganized structure introduces vertically integrated businesses better equipped to meet customer needs and position the company for market growth – both through mergers and acquisitions and organically. The new operating organizations will align the key customer-facing functions (sales, customer service, technical support and supply chain) under new business leaders to deliver more focused efforts on their respective markets. 

Non-customer-facing functions (treasury, accounting, IT, product assurance and HR) will be organized as a shared services entity. These changes are expected to position each business group for market flexibility and stronger growth.

“RT Vanderbilt’s new organizational structure will allow us to concentrate and grow our businesses in our traditional areas of strength, including chemicals and minerals,” said President and COO Roger Price.

The reorganization will result in the following structural changes:

• R. T. Vanderbilt Holding Co. Inc. – new parent company for all wholly owned subsidiaries listed below.
• Chemicals LLC – new operating entity that will include the North American operations of the company’s manufactured and resale chemical business serving the rubber, plastics and petroleum markets.
• Vanderbilt Minerals LLC – new operating entity that will include the North American operations of the company’s industrial and specialty minerals business serving the Life Sciences, Coatings, Ceramics and Agricultural markets.
• Vanderbilt Global Services LLC – new shared services entity that will provide support to the operating businesses.
• Vanderbilt International SARL – an existing Swiss entity that will continue to provide marketing and technical support services to the chemicals and minerals businesses in EMEA (Europe, Africa, Middle East and Russia).
• Vanderbilt (Beijing) Trading Ltd. – an existing China entity that will continue to provide marketing and technical support services to the Chemicals and Minerals businesses in China.

Senior leadership, ownership and the financial strength of RT Vanderbilt will not change as a result of the reorganization, and the new business groups will operate as divisions within the overall company.

Additionally, R.T. Vanderbilt’s previously announced $30 million expansion project at the company’s Murray, KY, chemical facility will be completed by the summer of 2013. Completion of this project will significantly increase capacity and capabilities for future growth of its chemical products and add automated packaging capabilities to the VEEGUM product line.

R.T. Vanderbilt, headquartered in Norwalk, CT, operates two chemical manufacturing plants in the United States in Bethel, CT, and Murray, KY, and also is a distributor of chemicals and polymers for many large suppliers. The company also operates mines in various locations throughout the United States to provide kaolin clay, bentonite, pyrophyllite, wollastonite and other processing aids for industrial and life science applications.