PolyOne Promotes Joel Rathbun to Senior Vice President, Mergers & Acquisitions

PolyOne Corporation, a global provider of specialized polymer materials, services and solutions, has announced that Joel Rathbun has been promoted to senior vice president, Mergers & Acquisitions, reporting to Robert M. Patterson, president and chief executive officer.

Mr. Rathbun returns to lead M&A activity for PolyOne, a role that he previously served upon joining the company in 2011 as vice president, Mergers & Acquisitions.  During that time, he expanded and strengthened the company’s Specialty platform through his expertise and leadership including the acquisitions of ColorMatrix and Glasforms.  He also led the efforts to sell the company’s non-core vinyl dispersion, blending and suspension resin assets in 2013.

For the last three years, Mr. Rathbun has served as general manager of PolyOne’s Specialty Engineered Materials business in North America.  In this capacity, he delivered record operating income and profitability, while generating clear, sustainable momentum around cross-business unit and regional collaboration.

“Joel’s demonstrated business savvy and diverse background as an engineer, banker, M&A leader and general manager make him uniquely qualified for this important, expanded role,” said Mr. Patterson. “M&A will be instrumental as we continue our specialty platform growth in pursuit of our 2020 Platinum Vision.  I’m extremely pleased to begin the new year with Joel leading our strategic efforts in this regard.”   

Prior to joining PolyOne, Mr. Rathbun amassed more than a decade of banking and M&A experience at Moelis & Company and CIBC World Markets.  He earned a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from Queen’s University in Ontario, Canada, and a master’s degree in civil engineering from Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas.