WATERTOWN, MA, April 2, 2003 -- Ionics, Inc. announced recently that its Board of Directors has elected Douglas R. Brown as President and CEO-elect effective April 1, 2003. Brown will succeed Arthur L. Goldstein as CEO on July 1, 2003.
Goldstein will remain Chairman. Brown, 48, has been a Director of Ionics for seven years and has been serving as Chairman of its Audit Committee. From 1995 to the end of 2002, Brown was President and CEO of Advent International, a private equity firm with over $6 billion under management. During the ten years prior to 1995, Brown held several management positions at Advent including starting and running its European investment organization.
From 1976 to 1984, Brown was employed by Ionics in several product management and engineering positions relating to water purification. Brown holds a degree in chemical engineering from M.I.T. and an MBA from Harvard Business School, where he was a Baker Scholar.
Commenting on the election of Brown, Goldstein said, "I am very pleased that the succession planning process which I initiated with the Board three years ago has resulted in the selection of Doug Brown as President and CEO-elect. His background and experience make him an excellent choice. We feel fortunate that he was available to rejoin Ionics at this time and we welcome his return."
Brown stated, "I am delighted to have been selected to succeed Art Goldstein as President and to be named CEO-elect. I believe Ionics is in an excellent position to leverage its unique strengths in the design and operation of sophisticated water treatment plants in the growing world market for water-related services. I expect to place special emphasis on water-related services in order to grow this important business and to help improve Ionics' stream of higher-margin recurring revenues."
Goldstein, 67, joined Ionics 43 years ago. During his 32-year tenure as President and CEO, the Company's revenues grew from $8 million in 1971 to over $450 million in 2001, prior to the sale of its bottled water business, and established itself as one of the premier companies in the world in water desalination, supply and reuse, as well as in industrial water processing and monitoring.
About Ionics
Ionics is a global separations technology company involved in the manufacture and sale of membranes, equipment, systems and services for the purification, disinfection, concentration and analysis of water, wastewater and ultrapure water. Over a period of more than 50 years, Ionics has built more desalination plants than any other company in the world. Ionics is a leader in the supply of world-class ultrapure water systems for the power and microelectronics industries, zero liquid discharge systems and in the measurement and analysis of both total organic carbon and boron. At the end of 2001 Ionics sold its Aqua Cool Pure Bottled Water business to Nestle SA for over $200 million. For additional information, please visit www.ionics.com.
