Showa Denko K.K. Announces Changes in Corporate Management

JCN Newswires, Dec 3, 2007

Tokyo, Japan, Dec 3, 2007 - (JCN Newswire) - Showa Denko K.K. (SDK) at its board of directors meeting today decided on changes in corporate management that will take effect early next year.

Yasumasa Sasaki will resign as Representative Director and Executive Vice-Presidential Corporate Officer on January 4. He will resign as Director at the general meeting of shareholders in March and become Counselor of SDK.

Meanwhile, Directors Tatsuo Sato and Norikuni Imoto will be appointed Representative Directors effective January 4. Sato will continue to serve as Senior Managing Corporate Officer and Executive Officer, Aluminum Sector. Imoto will retain his posts of Senior Managing Corporate Officer and Chief Risk Management Officer, in charge of Audit, General Affairs, Legal, CSR, and Purchasing offices.

Koji Kudo will resign as Managing Corporate Officer, Chief Technology Officer, and Executive Officer of Technology Headquarters on January 4. He will also resign as Director in March and become Technical Advisor of SDK.

Directors Ichiro Nomura and Shinji Sakai will be appointed Managing Corporate Officers. Nomura will continue to serve as Chief Financial Officer, in charge of Corporate Strategy, IR&PR, Accounting, Finance, and Information Systems offices. Sakai will remain as Executive Officer, Electronics Sector.

At the general meeting of shareholders in March, three new directors will be elected. They are, Kenji Tsukamoto (Corporate Officer; General Manager, Corporate Technical Office, and Strategic Marketing Center, Technology Headquarters), Hideo Ichikawa (Corporate Officer; General Manager, Corporate Strategy Office), and Tomofumi Akiyama (President, Fukoku Mutual Life Insurance). Tsukamoto will take office as Chief Technology Officer, and Executive Officer of Technology Headquarters on January 4, in addition to his current posts. Ichikawa will additionally oversee Human Resources Office as from January 4. Akiyama will serve as outside director.

Takashi Kobayashi will resign as Auditor while Hiroyuki Tezuka, Partner, Nishimura & Asahi, will be elected Auditor, in March. Hiroshi Ito, Standing Statutory Auditor, and Shogo Itoda, Auditor, whose tern of office is to expire in March, will be reelected.

Five new Corporate Officers will be appointed on January 4. They are, Naofumi Kokakji (General Manager, Ceramics Division, Inorganics Sector), Akira Ebinuma (General Manager, Electronics Materials Division and Chichibu Plant, Electronics Sector), Akira Koinuma (General Manager, Production Technology Office, Technology Headquarters), Yoshikazu Sakai (General Manager, Finance Office), and Shunji Fukuda (Executive Officer, Electronics Marketing Division, Electronics Sector).

Koinuma will additionally take office as Deputy Executive Officer, Technology Headquarters, and Fukuda will concurrently serve as Deputy Executive Officer, Electronics Sector.

Hisao Takamatsu, Masayuki Miyauchi, Toshio Nishide, and Eiichi Sato will resign as Corporate Officers on January 3, and will be appointed Senior Corporate Fellows on January 4. Takamatsu will continue to serve as General Manager, Chemicals Division, Chemicals Sector; Nishide, as General Manager, Extrusions/Specialty Products Division, Aluminum Sector; and Sato, as Oita Complex Representative, Petrochemicals Sector. Miyauchi, currently General Manager, Carbons Division, Inorganics Sector, will be appointed General Manager, Corporate R&D Center, Technology Headquarters.

Shigeru Yanagimoto and Kazuyuki Yokoo will resign as Chief Technologists and will be appointed Senior Corporate Fellows on January 4. Yanagimoto will resign as General Manager, Aluminum Technology Center, Aluminum Sector, while Yokoo will remain as General Manager, SPS Innovation Office.

Meanwhile, eight Corporate Fellows will be appointed on January 4. They are, Masayuki Shinoda (General Manager, Capacitor Department, Electronics Sector), Kazumi Naito (R&D Center, Technology Headquarters), Masashi Sakaguchi (Managing Director, Showa Denko Sakai Aluminum K.K.), Hirokazu Iwasaki (General Manager, Intellectual Property Office), Tetsuo Nakajo (General Manager, Technology Development Department, Oita Complex, Petrochemicals Sector), Hiroshi Uchida (R&D Center, Technology Headquarters), Makoto Nakajima (General Affairs Office), and Tamotsu Yoshida (Corporate Strategy Office).

Sakaguchi will be appointed General Manager, Aluminum Technology Center, and Development Department, Aluminum Sector. Nakajo will be assigned to Corporate R&D Center and Corporate Technical Office, Technology Headquarters.

About Showa Denko K.K.

Showa Denko K.K. ('SDK'; TSE: 4004, US: SHWDF) is a major manufacturer and marketer of chemical products serving a wide range of fields ranging from heavy industry to the electronic and computer industries. SDK makes petrochemicals (ethylene, propylene), aluminum products (ingots, rods), electronic equipment (hard disks for computers) and inorganic materials (ceramics, carbons). The company has overseas operations and a joint venture with Netherlands-based Montell and Nippon Petrochemicals to make and market polypropylenes. In March 2001, SDK merged with Showa Denko Aluminum Corporation to strengthen the high-value-added fabricated aluminum products operations, and is today developing next-generation optical communications-use wafers. For more information, please visit www.sdk.co.jp.