Fehsenfeld to retire as part of leadership shuffle at Calumet Specialty

Calumet Specialty Products Partners LP on Thursday announced a leadership team shuffle that will give the Indianapolis-based company a new CEO, chairman of the board and chief financial officer.

Calumet co-founder Fred Fehsenfeld plans to retire as chairman effective May 1. On the same date, CEO Steve Mawer will become executive chairman of the board, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Todd Borgmann will become CEO and Chief Accounting Officer Vince Donargo will become executive vice president and CFO.

Fehsenfeld has held the position of chairman since before the company’s initial public offering in 2005. He will remain chairman of the board at The Heritage Group, which owns a major stake in Calumet.

“It’s been a source of tremendous satisfaction for The Heritage Group and for me to see the corporate transformation of Calumet,” Fehsenfeld said in written remarks. “Calumet has a strong leadership team which won’t miss a beat with this transition. Heritage continues to encourage and support the vision and actions of Calumet’s leadership and is excited to see them take Calumet to the next level.”

Mawer became CEO in 2020 after the departure of former chief executive Timothy Go.

“Fred is a legendary entrepreneur and co-founder of Calumet, and his retirement will be felt deeply,” said Mawer in written comments. “We sincerely appreciate his service as our chairman. While we’ll miss Fred as a leader and a friend, we’ve prepared well for this transition that will shuffle our roles but maintain the same leadership team with the same strategy.”

Borgmann has been with Calumet for 15 years in increasingly senior roles. Prior to becoming CFO, he held leadership roles within supply chain, trading, optimization, sales, and strategy. Donargo has been chief accounting officer of Calumet for two years and has previous CFO experience with both public and private companies.

Calumet manufactures, formulates, and markets a wide variety of specialty oils, chemicals and other products. It operates 12 facilities throughout North America.

Calumet shares were down 4.9% Thursday, to $13.69 each.