Caldic announces the appointment of Steven Terwindt as CEO

Steven joins Caldic with more than 25 years of experience in global chemicals distribution. Between 2020 and 2023, Steven served on the management board of the Brenntag Group, and prior to that held the role of president and CEO of Brenntag North and Latin America. In previous years Steven held various operational leadership roles, including COO Brenntag North America, President Brenntag Canada, and President Brenntag Mexico & Central America. His wealth of industry expertise, strong growth track record, deep understanding of customer and principal needs, and people-centric leadership style make him an excellent candidate to succeed Xander as CEO of the Caldic organization.

Alexander Wessels joined Caldic in 2020 and led the transformation of Caldic from a regional player focused on Europe and North America to a leading global specialty chemicals distributor with a strong footprint in LATAM and APAC, tripling its size in this period.

Ron Ayles, Managing Partner at Advent International and member of the supervisory board, commented: “On behalf of Advent and Wilbur-Ellis, we are very pleased to welcome Steven to Caldic. Steven is a highly experienced leader in the specialty chemicals distribution segment with significant experience in driving growth across all of Caldic’s regions. We are convinced that Steven will build on the foundation laid over the past years and further drive growth through an excellent and differentiated product and service offering to principals and customers, as well as continued investments into Caldic’s footprint. The supervisory board would like to express our deep gratitude to Xander for his leadership during the transformation into a global leader through the combination of Caldic, GTM, and Connell. Xander was instrumental in driving the organizational and cultural integration of the global team, and the supervisory board wishes him all the best for the next phase.”

Alexander Wessels, CEO of Caldic, added: “I feel privileged and proud to have led Caldic in these years, in which the Caldic team has built a solid global specialty distribution platform, whilst driving a strong local entrepreneurial mindset. I am very happy to pass on the baton for the next growth phase of Caldic to Steven Terwindt, who is, with his background, excellently positioned for this challenge. I would like to thank the supervisory board, Advent International, and Wilbur-Ellis for all their support, and I particularly want to thank the entire Caldic family for all their efforts, results, commitment, and dedication, ‘because we care!’.”

Steven Terwindt, incoming CEO of Caldic, said: “Caldic stands out for its relentless focus on value creation for customers and principals through innovative solutions, deep industry expertise, digitalization, and an unwavering commitment to sustainability and safety. I am thrilled and honored to join Caldic as the new CEO at such an exciting time for the company and very much look forward to working closely with the talented Caldic team around the world to further expand the company’s footprint, both in terms of regional coverage and value-added services. ”