WEST PALM BEACH, FL -- Platform Specialty Products today announced Rakesh Sachdev as chief executive, replacing Daniel Leever, who is retiring effective immediately. 

Sachdev joins Platform with more than 28 years of management experience at leading public companies, most recently as president and CEO of Sigma-Aldrich since 2010 through its recent acquisition by Merck. He has also held numerous senior management positions at ArvinMeritor and Cummins.

Sachdev is currently a director of Regal-Beloit, Edgewell Personal Care, and the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. He also serves on the board of trustees of Washington University in St. Louis.

Sachdev has a master's in business administration from Indiana University, a master's in mechanical engineering from the University of Illinois, and a bachelor’s in mechanical engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology in New Delhi. 

In announcing the hiring, Platform chairman Martin Franklin said, "Rakesh’s deep leadership, strategy and execution experience are precisely the strengths Platform was looking for in its next chief executive. He is the right leader at this stage of Platform’s growth. We are highly confident in Rakesh’s ability to lead Platform as it continues toward its goal of becoming a best-in-class global, diversified specialty chemicals company. I look forward to working closely with Rakesh in the coming years.”

“I am honored to be joining Platform at such an exciting time,” Sachdev said. “There are immense opportunities ahead, both in the short term with the integrations of the recently completed acquisitions, and in the long term to build and broaden Platform’s businesses. We have some work in front of us to fully realize the value potential of the company, but I believe we are building the right team in place to succeed.”

Platform is the parent company of Alpha Metals, Enthone and MacDermid, among other PCB chemistry suppliers.