LONDON and NEW YORK, June 5, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

The 2017 ICIS Kavaler Award, sponsored by The Chemists' Club, and in association with The Valence Group, will be awarded to Kurt Bock, chairman of the board of executive directors of BASF, for outstanding achievement as voted on and recognized by his peers.

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This prestigious and unique global chemical industry award will be presented to Kurt Bock at a black tie dinner ceremony on Tuesday, October 3, 2017, at the Metropolitan Club of New York, in New York City.

The winner of the ICIS Kavaler Award is selected by his/her peers - the senior executives of the ICIS Top 40 Power Players listing

- a global ranking of the leaders making the greatest positive impact on their companies and the chemical industry published in ICIS Chemical Business magazine.

"With the 'We create chemistry' strategy, BASF set the path to strengthen its leading position as an integrated global chemical company. We want to contribute to a sustainable future and are guided by this purpose," said Kurt Bock. "This award recognizes our efforts and contribution, and I am proud to accept this award on behalf of all employees at BASF."

"Kurt Bock has kept a steady hand on the world's largest chemical company through challenging economic cycles and major structural changes in the global chemical industry, making disciplined investments and portfolio adjustments to position the firm for optimal performance," said Joseph Chang, global editor of ICIS Chemical Business.

In the award selection process, ICIS and The Chemists' Club invited each of the ICIS Top 40 Power Players in the 2016 ranking to vote for three individuals on the ballot, based on newsworthy achievement in one or more of the following categories:

• Profitability/shareholder value
• Mergers and acquisitions (deals or integration)
• Projects/capital investment
• Innovation (technology, product, business process) with an impact on industry and society.

Previous winners of the ICIS Kavaler Award include INEOS chairman Jim Ratcliffe (2016), Dow Chemical CEO Andrew Liveris (2015), former LyondellBasell CEO Jim Gallogly (2014) and former PPG Industries CEO Charles Bunch (2013).

For more information on the ICIS Kavaler Award, please contact Bernard Petersen at ICIS, Bernard.petersen@icis.com, +44-646-961-0708 or Roland Stefandl at The Chemists' Club, RStefandl@epolychem.com, +44-201-888-0440.

About ICIS 

ICIS Chemical Business is part of ICIS. ICIS is an independent price reporting agency focusing on global energy, petrochemical and fertilizer markets, and we have covered the complex UK electricity market for nearly two decades. Every day, we assess electricity contracts for more than 40 different delivery periods in the UK market alone. The analysis and data that we produce is widely used as a reference price in energy contracts.

It is our aim to give companies in global commodities markets a competitive advantage by delivering trusted pricing data, high-value news, analysis and independent consulting, enabling our customers to make better-informed trading and planning decisions.

With a global staff of more than 800, ICIS has employees based in Houston, Washington, New York, London, Montpellier, Dusseldorf, Karlsruhe, Milan, Mumbai, Singapore, Guangzhou, Beijing, Shanghai, Yantai, Tokyo and Perth. ICIS is a division of Reed Business Information, Reed Elsevier Plc.

For more on ICIS Chemical Business magazine, www.icis.com/subscriber/icb

About Reed Business Information 

Reed Business Information provides information, analytics and data to business professionals worldwide. Our strong global products and services hold market-leading positions across a wide range of industry sectors including banking, petrochemicals and aviation where we help customers make key strategic decisions every day. RBI is part of RELX Group, a global provider of information and analytics for professional customers across industries. http://www.reedbusiness.com

About Reed Elsevier 

RELX Group is a world‐leading provider of information and analytics for professional and business customers across industries. The group serves customers in more than 180 countries and has offices in about 40 countries. It employs approximately 30,000 people of whom half are in North America. RELX PLC is a London listed holding company which owns 52.9% of RELX Group. RELX NV is an Amsterdam listed holding company which owns 47.1% of RELX Group. The shares are traded on the London, Amsterdam and New York Stock Exchanges using the following ticker symbols: London: REL; Amsterdam: REN; New York: RELX and RENX. The total market capitalisation is approximately 33.1bn GBP / 38.2bn Euro / 42.6bn USD. www.relx.com

About BASF 

At BASF, we create chemistry for a sustainable future. We combine economic success with environmental protection and social responsibility. The approximately 114,000 employees in the BASF Group work on contributing to the success of our customers in nearly all sectors and almost every country in the world. Our portfolio is organized into five segments: Chemicals, Performance Products, Functional Materials & Solutions, Agricultural Solutions and Oil & Gas. BASF generated sales of about €58 billion in 2016. BASF shares are traded on the stock exchanges in Frankfurt (BAS), London (BFA) and Zurich (BAS). Further information at www.basf.com.

About The Chemists' Club 

Founded in 1898, The Chemists' Club is a non-profit educational organization whose membership is open to anyone with an interest in the chemical sciences, including chemists and chemical engineers, people in the life sciences, security analysts, attorneys, educators and consultants as well as students (dues free). The club is working with students to help them make informed career choices as well as to better prepare them for those careers.  For more information about The Chemists' Club, please go to www.thechemistsclub.com

About The Valence Group 

The Valence Group is a specialist investment bank offering M&A advisory services exclusively to companies and investors in the chemicals, materials and related sectors. The Valence Group team includes a unique combination of professionals with backgrounds in investment banking and strategic consulting within the chemicals and materials industries, all focused exclusively on providing M&A advisory services to the chemicals and materials sector. The firm's offices are located in New York and London. www.valencegroup.com

Media inquiries:
ICIS Chemical Business
Joseph Chang, Global Editor
joseph.chang@icis.com, +44-212-791-4224

ICIS Chemical Business
Joseph Chang, Global Editor
joseph.chang@icis.com, +44-212-791-4224

SOURCE ICIS