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Honeywell renames refrigerants business in spin-off

USA: Honeywell has renamed its refrigerants business Solstice Advanced Materials in a planned spin-off into an independent, US publicly-traded company.

The company will be headquartered at its current address in Morris Plains, New Jersey, under a new management team which includes Dr Rajeev Gautam as chairman of the board, David Sewell as president and CEO and Tina Pierce as CFO.

In addition to its New Jersey headquarters, Solstice Advanced Materials will have teams located in Charlotte, Houston, Dublin, Shanghai, Tokyo, Bangalore, Bucharest and Mexico City.

The independent company will maintain its global manufacturing footprint along with additional R&D sites. 

A company press statement said that with a large-scale domestic manufacturing base, Solstice Advanced Materials would be positioned to benefit from a compelling investment profile and a more flexible and optimised capital allocation strategy.

Dr Rajeev Gautam will take up the non-executive role on completion of the spin-off, which is expected by late 2025 or early 2026. 

Gautam brings more than four decades of experience at Honeywell in the process technologies and advanced materials sectors. Prior to his retirement in 2021, he served as president and CEO of Honeywell Performance Materials and Technologies (PMT) and also previously served as president of Honeywell UOP. He currently serves on the board of directors of precision component manufacturer NN Inc.

David Sewell joins as president and CEO of the Advanced Materials business with immediate effect. He is expected to retain this title with the new company upon completion of the spin. 

Sewell brings more than 30 years of experience in the materials and chemicals industries, having most recently served as the president and CEO of WestRock Company. Prior to this, he was the president and COO of The Sherwin Williams Company and spent more than 15 years in General Electric’s plastics and advanced materials division. He currently serves on the boards of directors of the National Association of Manufacturers and Huntsman Corporation.

Tina Pierce has been named CFO of the Advanced Materials business, effective May 1, 2025. She is expected to retain this title with the new company upon completion of the spin. Pierce is currently the vice president and CFO of Honeywell Industrial Automation and has over 25 years of experience at Honeywell as a global CFO of several major business segments, including Performance Materials and Technologies and Home and Building Technologies.

Jeff Dormo and Simon Mawson will be promoted to lead Solstice Advanced Materials’ two business segments, each taking on the role of senior vice president and general manager. Both currently lead business units of Honeywell Advanced Materials.

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