President, South America is Appointed

Produquímica, a Compass Minerals company, today announced the appointment of Gustavo Vasques as the company’s president, South America.

Vasques comes to Compass Minerals from Sumitomo Chemical Co., Ltd., a Japanese chemical company, where he most recently served as president, Latin America. In this role, he led the crop protection, animal nutrition and environmental health businesses of the company. Prior to joining Sumitomo Chemical in 2011, Vasques spent eight years as managing director with Georgia-Pacific Corporation’s specialty chemicals business and spent 10 years with Monsanto Company where he served in a variety of sales leader positions for functional fluids, food ingredients, herbicides and seeds.

“Gustavo brings deep experience in the growth of agricultural businesses across Latin America,” said Brad Griffith, senior vice president, plant nutrition. “His combination of agriculture industry knowledge and ability to develop innovative commercial solutions will allow him to be an effective partner in driving a high performance, customer-centric culture throughout our South America locations. I look forward to working with Gustavo to deliver on our commitments to drive our financial performance through innovation and value creation for our customers.”

Vasques succeeds Gerhard Schultz, who is retiring from Produquímica and will continue to serve as a resource to Compass Minerals during the transition.

“We’re grateful for Gerhard’s leadership during the integration of Produquímica and Compass Minerals,” said Fran Malecha, CEO and president. “Gerhard’s commitment to the long-term success of Produquímica has been instrumental in the integration of our two companies. With Gustavo’s leadership, I am confident we will continue to grow and strengthen our company’s South American business.”

Vasques holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration and a master’s from the Business School São Paulo.

 

This press release may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are based on the company’s current expectations and involve risks and uncertainties that could cause the company’s actual results to differ materially. The differences could be caused by a number of factors including those factors identified in the “Risk Factors” and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” sections of the company’s Annual and Quarterly Reports on Forms 10-K and 10-Q. The company undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements made in this press release to reflect future events or developments.