TOKYO, Nov 29, 2019 - (JCN Newswire) - Showa Denko (SDK; TSE:4004) decided at its Board of Directors meeting today on changes in Representative Director and other members of corporate management (directors, corporate officers, and councilors). It was also decided to establish a new position of Chief Strategy Officer (CSO) to step up the Showa Denko Group's management strategy. Furthermore, SDK will strengthen its governance under the leadership of Chairman of the Board.

Hideo Ichikawa will resign as Representative Director, and elected Chairman of the Board at a board meeting after the General Meeting of Shareholders in late March 2020. On the same occasion, Hidehito Takahashi (Director) and Motohiro Takeuchi (Director) will be appointed Representative Directors. Biographical information on Takahashi and Takeuchi is attached at the end of this news release.

Jun Tanaka and Keiichi Kamiguchi will resign as Directors, and Kozo Isshiki will resign as Outside Director, at the General Meeting of Shareholders. Tanaka will resign as Chief Technology Officer on January 5, and will be elected Member of Audit & Supervisory Board at the General Meeting of Shareholders. Kamiguchi will continue working as Corporate Officer; Chief Risk Management Officer; and officer in charge of Internal Audit, Legal, CSR & General Affairs, Human Resources, and Purchasing & SCM departments. Isshiki will be elected Outside Member of Audit & Supervisory Board.

Meanwhile, Hiroshi Sakai (Councilor; General Manager of Technology Development Control Department, Device Solutions Division) will be elected Director at the General Meeting of Shareholders. Kiyomi Saito (Outside Member of Audit & Supervisory Board) and Noriko Morikawa (Advisor, Bosch; and Outside Director, Chori Co., Ltd.) will be elected Outside Directors.

Tetsu Moriki will resign as Member, and Hiroyuki Tezuka as Outside Member, of Audit & Supervisory Board. Meanwhile, Masako Yajima (Partner, Nishimura & Asahi; Professor, Graduate School of Law, Keio University) will be elected Outside Member of Audit & Supervisory Board.

Masamichi Yagishita (General Manager, Electronic Chemicals Division; officer in charge of Functional Chemicals Division, Higashinagahara, Tokuyama, Isesaki and Tatsuno plants) will resign as Managing Corporate Officer on January 5, 2020. Kanji Takasaki (officer in charge of Aluminum Rolled Products, Aluminum Specialty Components, and Aluminum Can divisions as well as Oyama and Kitakata plants), Takayuki Sato (General Manager of Electronics Materials Division and its Marketing Department; Deputy General Manager of Device Solutions Division; officer in charge of Chichibu Plant) and Masao Shibuya (General Representative in China; General Manager, China Office, Corporate Strategy Department; CEO, Showa Denko (Shanghai) Co., Ltd.) will resign as Corporate Officers on January 5. Yagishita will be appointed Councilor on January 6, and become Assistant to President. Takasaki will work as non-regular staff at Aluminum Can Division, Sato at Device Solutions Division, and Shibuya at Corporate Strategy Department, in the same manner.

Meanwhile, the following will be newly appointed as Corporate Officers effective January 6:

Kenjiro Yamamasu (Councilor; General Manager, Aluminum Specialty Components Division), Hiroshi Sakai, Kazuo Hirakura (Councilor; Deputy General Manager, Industrial Gases Division), Hiroyuki Eda (Councilor; General Manager, Aluminum Rolled Products Division), and Makoto Takeda (Councilor; Deputy General Manager, Carbon Division; General Manager, Global Control Department, Carbon Division).

As new corporate officer, Yamamasu will become General Manager, Electronic Chemicals Division, and officer in charge of Tokuyama Plant. Sakai will assume the position of Chief Technology Officer, and officer in charge of Advanced Battery Materials Division, Institute for Integrated Product Development, Advanced Technology Laboratory, as well as Corporate R&D and Intellectual Property departments. Hirakura will become General Manager of the Industrial Gases Division, and President of Showa Denko Gas Products Co., Ltd. Eda will become officer in charge of Aluminum Rolled Products, Aluminum Specialty Components, and Aluminum Can divisions as well as Oyama and Kitakata plants. Takeda will be appointed General Manager, Carbon Division.

There will be the following changes in corporate officers' responsibilities as from January 6:

Jiro Ishikawa (Senior Managing Corporate Officer, General Manager, Device Solutions Division; officer in charge of Electronics Materials Division) will additionally oversee Chichibu Plant. Hidehito Takahashi (Managing Corporate Officer; General Manager, Carbon Division; officer in charge of Ceramics Division, Coating Materials Department, Yokohama and Shiojiri plants, and Corporate Strategy Department) will additionally assume the newly created position of Chief Strategy Officer. He will resign as General Manager of Carbon Division, but oversee the division as officer in charge. Motohiro Takeuchi (Corporate Officer; Chief Financial Officer: General Manager, Finance & Accounting Department; officer in charge of Information Systems Department) will be promoted to Managing Corporate Officer, and continue working as Chief Financial Officer. He will resign as General Manager, Finance & Accounting Department, but become officer in charge of Finance & Accounting Department, in addition to Information Systems Department.

Koichi Nishimura (General Manager, Industrial Gases Division; officer in charge of Basic Chemicals Division, Kawasaki Plant; President, Showa Denko Gas Products Co., Ltd.) will become Assistant to President for promotion of chemicals safety and environmental protection. At the same time, he will be officer in charge of Industrial Gases, Basic Chemicals, Electronic Chemicals, and Functional Chemicals divisions as well as Kawasaki, Higashinagahara, Isesaki and Tatsuno plants.

Masunori Kaiho will resign as General Manager of Production Technology Department. As Corporate Officer, he will oversee Production Technology Department and continue working as officer in charge of Energy & Electricity, SPS Innovation and Responsible Care departments; and Chairman, Safety Measures Committee.

Effective January 6, Jun Ogawa (General Manager of SCM Center, Omachi Plant, Carbon Division) and Takuya Okubo (Associate Councilor; General Manager, Ceramics Division) will be promoted to Councilors. Ogawa will become General Representative in China; General Manager, China Office, Corporate Strategy Department; and CEO, Showa Denko (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. Okubo will additionally serve as President, Showa Denko Ceramics Co., Ltd.

Takuji Yamamoto (Assistant to President, in charge of AI Strategy Planning) and Nobuhide Ueyama (General Manager, Process Solutions Center, Production Technology Department) will resign as Councilors on January 5. Ueyama will become Managing Director of Tsurusaki Sanso Center Co., Ltd. effective January 6.

There will be the following changes in Councilors' responsibilities as from January 6:

Hiroshi Daio (Councilor; President, Showa Denko Ceramics Co., Ltd.) will become General Manager, Process Solutions Center, Production Technology Department. Takayuki Tohaya (Councilor; General Manager, Energy & Electricity Department) will work at Corporate Strategy Department.

As of late March next year, the Board of Directors will consist of Kohei Morikawa (Representative Director; President and CEO); Hidehito Takahashi (Representative Director; CSO), Motohiro Takeuchi (Representative Director, CFO), Hideo Ichikawa (Director; Chairman of the Board), and Hiroshi Sakai (Director); as well as Masaharu Oshima, Kiyoshi Nishioka, Kiyomi Saito, and Noriko Morikawa (Outside Directors). In addition, Toshiharu Kato and Jun Tanaka will serve as Audit & Supervisory Board Members, and Setsu Onishi, Kozo Isshiki, and Masako Yajima as Outside Members of the Audit & Supervisory Board.

Biographical Information

Hidehito TAKAHASHI

Date of birth: July 21, 1962 (57 years old)Date of joining Showa Denko: October 1, 2015Birthplace: Setagaya Ward, Tokyo

Education: Graduated from Komaba-Toho High School, in March 1981; the Faculty of Economics, The University of Tokyo, in March 1986; and Master of Business Administration, Columbia University, in May 1992

Professional CareerApr 1986 Joined The Mitsubishi Bank, Ltd. (currently, MUFG Bank Ltd.)Feb 2002 General Electric Japan, Ltd. General Manager, Business Development DepartmentOct 2004 GE Sensing President, Asia PacificOct 2008 Momentive Performance Materials Japan President and CEO, Silicones BusinessJan 2013 GKN Driveline Japan Ltd Representative Director and PresidentOct 2015 Joined Showa Denko K.K.; Senior Corporate Fellow, Assistant to President in charge of special assignmentsJan 2016 Appointed Corporate Officer; General Manager, Corporate Strategy DepartmentJan 2017 Managing Corporate Officer, in charge of Ceramics and Carbon divisions, Omachi Plant, and Corporate Strategy DepartmentMar 2017 Director; Managing Corporate Officer, in charge of Ceramics and Carbon divisions, Omachi Plant, and Corporate Strategy DepartmentJul 2017 Director; Managing Corporate Officer; General Manager, Carbon Division; in charge of Ceramics Division and Corporate Strategy DepartmentJan 2019 Director; Managing Corporate Officer; General Manager, Carbon Division; in charge of Ceramics Division, Yokohama and Shiojiri plants as well as Corporate Strategy DepartmentJul 2019 Director; Managing Corporate Officer; General Manager, Carbon Division; in charge of Ceramics Division, Coating Materials Department, Yokohama and Shiojiri plants as well as Corporate Strategy Department (current position)

Ownership of Showa Denko shares: 3,000 shares

Biographical Information

Motohiro TAKEUCHI

Date of birth: September 23, 1960 (59 years old)Date of joining Showa Denko: April 1, 1983Birthplace: Nagoya City, Aichi Prefecture

Education: Graduated from Tokai High School, in March 1979; and the Faculty of Commerce, Waseda University, in March 1983

Professional CareerApr 1983 Joined Showa Denko K.K.Jan 2013 General Manager, Ceramics DivisionJan 2015 Appointed Corporate Officer; General Manager, Ceramics DivisionJan 2017 Corporate Officer; General Manager, Corporate Strategy DepartmentJan 2019 Corporate Officer; in charge of Finance & Accounting and Information Systems departments; Chief Financial OfficerMar 2019 Director; Corporate Officer; General Manager, Finance & Accounting Department; in charge of Information Systems Department; Chief Financial Officer (current position)

Ownership of Showa Denko shares: 3,000 shares

About Showa Denko K.K.

Showa Denko K.K. (SDK; TSE:4004, ADR:SHWDY), a major manufacturer of chemical products, serves a wide range of fields from heavy industry to electronics and computer industries. The Petrochemicals Sector provides cracker products such as ethylene and propylene, the Chemicals Sector provides industrial, high-performance and high-purity gases and chemicals for semicon and other industries, and the Inorganics Sector provides ceramic products, such as alumina, abrasives, refractory and graphite electrodes and fine carbon products. The Aluminum Sector provides aluminum materials and high-value-added fabricated aluminum, the Electronics Sector provides HD media, compound semiconductors such as ultra high-bright LEDs and rare earth magnetic alloys, and the Advanced Battery Materials Department (ABM) provides lithium-ion battery components. For more information, please visit www.sdk.co.jp/english/.

Contact:Showa Denko K.K., Public Relations Office, Tel: 81-3-5470-3235

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