Univar Names President for European Operations

Amsterdam, The Netherlands – October 25, 2002 – Univar N.V., a global leader in chemical distribution, has appointed John Phillpotts to be President of its European business unit, Univar Europe. Univar Europe is the second largest chemical distributor in Europe, with operations in 14 countries including the UK, Ireland, France, Benelux, Germany, Switzerland, the Nordic, Italy and the Iberian Peninsula. Univar also has significant positions in the European market in polymers and food ingredient distribution.

Phillpotts has more than 30 years experience in the chemical distribution industry with Univar and predecessor companies. Most recently he served as Univar’s Vice President for Northern and Central Europe. Previously, Phillpotts was a Group Board Director with Ellis & Everard plc, responsible for all European operations. Ellis & Everard was purchased by Univar in January 2001.

In addition to his new responsibilities in Europe, Phillpotts will become a Senior Vice President of the parent company, and will join the Univar global management team.

According to Gary E. Pruitt, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, “The appointment of John Phillpotts to be our European President, completes the restructuring of our European organization. John has proven to be a highly capable leader in establishing a motivated team of country managers to address the European marketplace in a coordinated fashion.” According to Pruitt, Phillpotts has been particularly adept in establishing a “focus on the fundamentals” approach to the business, and in re-directing the Univar Europe group around leveragable pan- European objectives such as key product management, accounting and finance, information technology and operational issues.

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