Changes in the leadership team of Performance Materials

• Benjamin Hein will become General Manager and Head of Delivery Systems and Services, Greater China & Southeast Asia
• Ed Shober will succeed Benjamin Hein as Head of Strategy & Business Transformation Performance Materials
• The personnel changes will take effect from February 1, 2021

Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, a leading science and technology company, today announced another milestone of its transformation program “Bright Future” for the business sector Performance Materials. With effect from February 1, 2021, Benjamin Hein will take over the role of General Manager and Head of Delivery Systems and Services, Greater China & Southeast Asia. He will be based in Taiwan. Also effective February 1, 2021, Ed Shober will succeed Benjamin Hein as Head of Strategy & Business Transformation Performance Materials.

“We are in the midst of our Bright Future strategic transformation, a 5-year program to ensure profitable, long-term growth”, explains Kai Beckmann, Member of the Executive Board of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, and CEO Performance Materials. “We have already successfully implemented fundamental changes, and it is now our goal to further grow our business in the market for data-driven electronics. The essential factor for realizing our ambitions are our people and to have the right persons with the right capabilities in the success-critical positions. Therefore, we are proud to announce some changes in our leadership team.”

 “I would like to wholeheartedly thank Benjamin Hein for his extraordinary contributions over the last two years in driving the development of Performance Materials, for example with being a driving force behind the successful and swift acquisition and integration of Versum Materials as well as with his overall responsibility for the Bright Future program. Ed Shober has a proven track record as a very experienced executive and expert in our industry, and I’m certain he will ensure Performance Materials holds course on its successful transformation,” Beckmann adds.

About Benjamin Hein

Benjamin Hein first joined Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, in 2011 and has been Head of Strategy & Business Transformation of Performance Materials since January 2019. Prior to this role, he was the Head of Group Strategy and the CEO office for Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, and held multiple roles within the company, working across different businesses, functions and geographies. Before joining Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, Benjamin Hein worked in industrial automation and robotics at HAHN Group as well as in the Food & Beverage industry at Doehler. He holds a Master of Business (Marketing) from Queensland University of Technology (QUT), Australia, and a Master of Science in Strategic Marketing from Maastricht University, the Netherlands.

About Ed Shober

Ed Shober has been Executive Advisor to the CEO of Performance Materials since the acquisition of Versum Materials. He will take on his additional new role as Head of Strategy & Business Transformation Performance Materials. Prior to his current role, Ed Shober was Senior Vice President of Versum’s Materials segment with responsibility for its Process Materials and Advanced Materials global businesses. He has over 30 years of experience in the semiconductor industry. Ed Shober joined Air Products in 1994 and held a variety of roles with increasing responsibility until assuming leadership of Air Products’ Advanced Materials business in 2012. Ed Shober holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil/Structural Engineering from Brown University.