The supervisory board of Germany’s Evonik Industries terminated the contract of chief operating officer Patrik Wohlhauser (51) with effect from Jun. 30, 2015. On Jul. 1, Ralph Sven Kaufmann (49) was appointed as the company's new COO.

Wohlhauser was appointed to Evonik’s executive board on Apr. 1, 2011 and took over responsibility for the chemical operations as COO on Jan. 1, 2014. The company did not give a reason for the termination of the executive’s contract; however, supervisory board chairman Werner Müller said the departure was on “highly amicable terms.”

Müller said Wohlhauser “played a key role in shaping our chemicals operations over many years and most recently contributed to the successful bundling of our business in the segment structure.”

Kaufmann, who started his career in Corporate Controlling at Henkel, has been a managing partner of Scopein Management Consultants in Düsseldorf, Germany, since 2001, advising companies in the chemical and pharmaceutical industry, including Evonik, on optimizing their operational efficiency and business portfolio, the Essen-based chemical producer said.

There has been some speculation recently that Evonik may be in the market for a major acquisition. Both Swiss specialty chemicals producer Clariant and Dutch life science and chemical group DSM have been mooted as takeover targets.