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Oliver Lüthi, Commercial Head, Custom ManufacturingCreated in 2005 as a spin-off from Clariant, today, CABB with over 1,000 employees is a leading manufacturer of chlorination and sulfonation reagents such as thionyl chloride, sulfuryl chloride, oleum, chlorosulfonic acid and sulfur trioxide complexes. The product portfolio also includes the subsequent downstream chemistry and products such as monochloroacetic acid and its derivatives, acid chlorides, chlorides, and sulfonic acid derivatives. Leveraging its decades of experience, process technology, plants, and infrastructure, CABB performs several other standard reactions in addition to its core technologies in chlorination and sulfonation.
CABB is organized in two business units – Custom Manufacturing, and Acetyls. Over the last four years, the company has invested significantly in its Custom Manufacturing business unit to improve production technology, safety, process efficiencies and capacity.
As a leading player in custom manufacturing, CABB offers customers a broad toolbox of chemical reaction steps, including the development and safe control of sophisticated synthesis processes and its continuous optimisation in close partnership with them. The company’s client roster boasts of leading agchem and pharma innovators, and generic producers of antibiotics, X-ray contrast media, and cardiovascular drugs, among others.
The company’s prowess in handling complex, demanding chemistry safely and reliably places it a notch higher in the fine chemistry arena. CABB also has decades-long track record in safely handling customers’ IP.
The uniqueness of CABB is that it is the only fine chemicals custom manufacturing specialist with a transatlantic production footprint in Switzerland, Finland and the U.S. This proves to be immensely advantageous in the light of recent concerns regarding outsourcing of process steps to China amidst increasing local demands on safety and environmental aspects. The Covid-19 crisis has also brought to fore a certain level of fragility in globalised supply chains, especially involving Asia. “With our two production sites in Europe and one in the U.S., CABB can contribute to improving or safeguarding supply chain reliability,” says Oliver Lüthi, Commercial Head, Custom Manufacturing. The company has taken steps to provide additional capacity in Europe via a fast track investment and debottlenecking program. As one of the few Europe-based specialists in chlorination technology for fine chemicals manufacturing, CABB is securing supply chains for basic and advanced chlorinated building blocks for life science and specialty chemicals when supply for such materials from Asia is becoming less reliable.
In essence, CABB’s ability to act as an integrated part of the customer’s value chain, from process development to commercial production, has made it the partner of choice.
Company
CABB Group
Management
Oliver Lüthi, Commercial Head, Custom Manufacturing and Valerie Diele-Braun, CEO
Description
CABB manufactures high-quality primary products, intermediate products, and active ingredients in fine chemistry for organisations in agrochemical, pharmaceutical and specialty chemical industries. The company’s vision is to handle complex chemistry more reliably, sustainably, and efficiently, making them the preferred partner and world market leader in complex fine chemistry. CABB is a leading manufacturer of chlorination and sulfonation reagents such as thionyl chloride, sulfuryl chloride, oleum, chlorosulfonic acid and sulfur trioxide complexes. The product portfolio also includes the subsequent downstream chemistry and products such as monochloroacetic acid and its derivatives, acid chlorides, chlorides, and sulfonic acid derivatives. The uniqueness of CABB is that it is the only fine chemicals custom manufacturing specialist with a transatlantic production footprint in Switzerland, Finland and the U.S
"We are very pleased that with Thomas Ahrens, we have attracted an experienced leader who has an outstanding track record in driving sustainable growth and profitability. Building on his extensive industry expertise, he will further strengthen CABB's position as a premier contract development and manufacturing organisation and leading producer of proprietary ingredients for customers in the Life Science and Performance Materials industries. We are convinced that after a smooth transition from Valerie he will successfully lead CABB into the next chapter of its growth story", said Roberto Gualdoni, Chairman of the Advisory Board.
Ahrens has more than 20 years of industry experience at executive board level with a strong focus on driving global expansion strategies and delivering long-term profitable growth. Prior to his time at COMPO EXPERT where he took over as CEO in March 2016, he spent four years as Vice President Europe at ENTHONE, a global leader in chemical solutions for surface finishing in a variety of industries. Both companies have seen a strong performance improvement during Ahrens' tenure.
"CABB with its high-quality products and services is ideally positioned to excel in an exciting industry," said Ahrens. "I very much look forward to joining forces with my more than 1'000 colleagues around the globe, the whole management team, and the owner Permira. Together, we will continue to unlock CABB's full potential and drive our sustainable growth agenda."