John R. Arp

John has over 19 years of operations, marketing and consulting experience in commodity chemicals, specialty chemicals, minerals, paper & pulp, catalysts, coatings, agricultural chemicals (Agchem) and agricultural biologicals. While working in the chemical industry, John participated in numerous company evaluations, due diligences and acquisitions, providing him a unique industry perspective to deals. John served as the North America operations due diligence and integration project leader for a $1 billion acquisition in the Agchem space. A new global business unit was created after this acquisition, and John was a member of the leadership team driving the business strategy and development activities. John is an experienced team leader; equally effective at managing domestic and international cross-functional teams. 

Professional and Industry Experience

• Led numerous client engagements in the chemical and retail apparel industry sectors for operational and commercial due diligence. Representative client deliverables include: separation standalone cost assessment, separation entanglements hot spot matrix, integration peer benchmarking, one-time integration costs, integration risk assessment and integration synergy assessment
• Led a separation Program Management Office (PMO) for a commodity chemical company. The PMO focused on ensuring finance, accounting, HR, IT and other workstreams met due diligence objectives and milestones for the investment bank bid process. The client retained our PMO services after signing to assist Target functional leads and subject matter professionals to prepare a standalone operating model and separation task plan for a quick close
• North America project leader of an operations due diligence and integration team. Directed the integration of five production sites and their supply chain; identified synergies and implemented an ERP conversion for a $1 billion acquisition in the Agchem industry
• As Head of Business Development, served on the leadership team of a global Agchem startup business unit in a large multinational chemical company. Advanced business strategy, led M&A evaluations and streamlined portfolio by reducing complexity by 40%. Secured license to operate through product stewardship and successfully navigating global registration requirements
• Managed Return on Net Assets (RONA) for a specialty coating business consisting of four sites in the US and a joint venture in China. Developed investment and divestment plans as part of a comprehensive asset strategy following a $3 billion acquisition
• Developed a North America asset investment strategy for 5 formulation sites and 14 toll manufacturing locations supporting the crop protection business. While serving as lead negotiator and contract writer for US toll manufacturing, realized significant cost savings and secured supply by successfully negotiating a 5 year supply agreement supporting greater than $200 million per year in sales
• Created a US export business model to ensure product supply to emerging markets for a large Agchem company. Led a cross-region and cross-functional team tasked with determining the best location for a new herbicide formulation plant based on optimizing logistics, cost of goods and tax structure.