US industrial gases producer Air Products & Chemicals has named Seifi Ghasemi as its new chairman, president and chief executive officer, effective July 1, 2014.

Chairman and CEO of Rockwood Holdings since 2001, Ghasemi succeeds John E. McGlade who will retire on June 30.

Prior to joining Rockwood, he held a number of leadership positions at global industrial companies, including chairman and CEO of GKN Sinter Metals and served in a variety of senior roles with British gases producer BOC acquired by German rival Linde in 2007.

The future Air Products corporate leader is currently on the board of directors of EnerSys, the world's largest industrial battery manufacturer and is chairman of the supervisory board of Chemetall.

As Ghasemi led Rockwood through the divestiture of seven businesses worth nearly $4 billion, including Advanced Ceramics, Clay Additives and most recently TiO2, some financial market players speculate that his appointment could signal that Air Products may be open to the divestitures urged by activist investors.