Air Products’ Spin-Off Company Versum Materials Headquarters to be in Tempe, Arizona

Air Products continues to work toward the previously announced intended spin-off of its Materials Technologies’ Electronic Materials Division (EMD), to what is to become Versum Materials. As part of this continuing process, Versum Materials  announced when it becomes a standalone company, its headquarters offices will be located in Tempe, Arizona.

“Part of our overall strategy as a separate company is to be more market facing and agile by co-locating our business capabilities closer to the companies we serve. Our focus is on serving our semiconductor customers. We have existing Electronic Materials production, research and development, and a workforce in Tempe, and our major U.S. customers are located in the Western U.S.,” said Guillermo Novo, who will be the CEO of Versum Materials. “Additionally, over 70 percent of the market is now in Asia and it continues to grow. Locating in Tempe will allow us to improve our connectivity with both our U.S. and Asia teams and customers. This decision is part of a broader plan to be closer to our customers and position Versum for success.”

Novo added certain administrative functions will remain in Pennsylvania in the Allentown area. “We have great people with experience and knowledge performing jobs that are critical to our company, like Accounting and IT, for example. These people have been integral to the transition as we move toward Versum. Having employees who understand our business will allow us to stay focused on our separation and continue to support our business performance going forward,” Novo said. “Between our manufacturing and administrative infrastructure that will remain, Versum will continue to have a significant footprint in the Lehigh Valley area.”

The headquarters announcement follows several other moves that have been decided as the business separation intended for September 2016 nears. Most recently it was decided Versum’s research and development labs would be relocated over the next year to Tempe; Hometown, Pennsylvania; Taiwan; and Korea. The commercial organization for much of the business is also relocating to Tempe.

EMD had approximately $1 billion in sales in 2015. It employs approximately 1,900 people and includes major production facilities in the U.S., Korea and Taiwan. Versum Materials’ focus is to be the materials partner of choice for the semiconductor industry, providing high value in-use products for next generation chips used in mobile devices, Internet of Things, and PCs.