Richard Ridinger, CEO of Basel, Switzerland-based fine chemicals producer Lonza since April 2012, will retire at the end of February and be succeeded on Mar. 1 by Marc Funk, current chief operating officer of the company’s Pharma & Biotech division.

To ensure a seamless leadership transition of leadership, Lonza said Ridinger will remain with the company until the end of April and then serve in an advisory capacity until the end of 2019. The current chief executive’s plans for the future are said to include “building a portfolio of non-executive positions in various companies.”

Prior to taking up the position at Lonza, Ridinger held numerous leadership functions at Düsseldorf, Germany-based chemical producer Henkel and its spinoff Cognis.

Under the German national’s leadership, the Swiss company achieved a “strategic, operational and financial turnaround, making it the world leader in its markets today,” said Albert M. Baehny, chairman of Lonza’s board of directors. Among other things, Ridinger is credited with developing the company’s main site at Visp, Switzerland, into a “pioneering industrial performance center.”

Before his tenure as COO of Pharma & Biotech, Marc Funk served as  group general counsel and board secretary. Prior to joining Lonza in January 2009, he was associate general counsel at Merck Serono.