Paul Rea to Head U.S. Crop Business of BASF Crop Protection


RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, NC, June 23, 2009 - BASF Crop Protection today announced the appointment of Paul Rea to Director, U.S. Crop Business, effective July 1, 2009. The announcement was made by Nevin McDougall, Group Vice President of BASF North America Crop Protection.

Rea brings more than 14 years of global management experience in agriculture business to the position. He most recently served as Director of BASF Specialty Products business within BASF North America Crop Protection, comprising three units: Professional Pest Control, Professional Turf & Ornamentals and Professional Vegetation Management. In this role, Rea led the December 2008 acquisition of Whitmire Micro-Gen to form BASF Pest Control Solutions. Prior, Rea held global and regional marketing positions for BASF North America.

In his new position, Rea will be responsible for all aspects of the U.S. Crop commercial business. He will head an experienced team focused on growing BASF's leadership position in innovation - delivering game-changing products such as Headline® fungicide and launching new chemistries like Kixor® herbicide - to help growers get the most out of every acre.

Additionally, he will spearhead initiatives to deepen BASF's customer relationships.

"Paul's proven abilities as a business leader combined with his wealth of experience in agriculture will bring great energy to our vision of being the premier business in this industry," said McDougall. "I am pleased he will take the helm to build on the BASF legacy of delivering outstanding crop protection solutions developed through industry-leading levels of investment in agriculture chemistry R&D."

"It is an exciting time to lead the company's Crop business, which has much to offer the agriculture community," said Rea. "Agricultural production must produce more feed, food, fiber and fuel to meet the needs of an ever-expanding global population. BASF is dedicated to building on an already robust pipeline and working closely with channel partners to deliver important yield-protecting innovations to growers."

Rea joined the company in 2001 as a National Sales Manager at BASF Australia, Ltd., in Sydney. Prior to joining BASF, Rea served as National Product Manager and Director of Graintrust Venture for Combined Rural Traders (CRT) in Sydney, Australia. He also spent more than 10 years working with a major seed company in both Australia and New Zealand.

A native of New Zealand, Rea earned his master's degree in business administration from the University of Sydney, Graduate School of Management in Sydney, Australia.

Rea succeeds McDougall, who was promoted to his current role as Group Vice President of BASF, North America Crop Protection in February.

For more information contact:

Anne Burt

BASF Corporation

Tel: (919) 547-2757

E-mail: anne.burt@basf.com

About the Crop Protection Division

With sales of 3.4 billion in 2008, BASF's Crop Protection division is a leader in crop protection and a strong partner to the farming industry providing well-established and innovative fungicides, insecticides and herbicides. Farmers use these products and services to improve crop yields and crop quality. Other uses include public health, structural/urban pest control, turf and ornamental plants, vegetation management and forestry.

BASF aims to turn knowledge rapidly into market success. The vision of BASF's Crop Protection division is to be the world's leading innovator, optimizing agricultural production, improving nutrition and thus enhancing the quality of life for a growing world population. Further information can be found on the web at www.agro.basf.com.

BASF-The Chemical Company. We don't make a lot of the products you buy. We make a lot of the products you buy better.®

BASF Corporation, headquartered in Florham Park, New Jersey, is the North American affiliate of BASF SE, Ludwigshafen, Germany. BASF has more than 15,000 employees in North America and had sales of approximately $17.5 billion in 2008. For more information about BASF's North American operations, or to sign up to receive news releases by e-mail, visit www.basf.com/usa.

BASF is the world's leading chemical company: The Chemical Company. Its portfolio ranges from chemicals, plastics and performance products to agricultural products, fine chemicals, as well as oil and gas. As a reliable partner, BASF helps its customers in virtually all industries to be more successful. With its high-value products and intelligent solutions, BASF plays an important role in finding answers to global challenges, such as climate protection, energy efficiency, nutrition and mobility. BASF has approximately 97,000 employees and posted sales of more than 62 billion in 2008. BASF shares are traded on the stock exchanges in Frankfurt (BAS), London (BFA) and Zurich (AN). Further information on BASF is available on the Internet at www.basf.com.

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