PARSIPPANY, N.J., June 1, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Kline, a respected provider of world-class consulting services and high-quality market intelligence, announced that Ian Butcher has decided to retire as Kline Senior Vice President of Global Business Development within the Chemicals and Petrochemical industries after 35 years with the company. Frances Davidson in North America and Hardeep Parmar in Europe have currently replaced Butcher, both in positions of Director in the Chemicals Practice of Kline's Management Consulting business. Butcher will continue working for Kline as a senior advisor to help make a smooth transition.

Butcher is a seasoned consultant to chemical industry who during his extensive tenure worked in a variety of functions from Commercial Director to his current position as Member of the Board of Directors, Senior Vice President and Officer of the company and Managing Director of Kline's Belgium office. He, along with his team, has assisted many chemical and petroleum corporations in Europe, North America, and the Middle East to identify new business opportunities and new markets, to monitor and improve client relationships, and in due diligence assignments for acquisitions. Based on his lifetime experience in the chemicals industry Ian Butcher has written a white paper about his personal observations: Nostalgia's Not What it Used to Be: The Chemical Industry's Evolution Over 35 Years.

"Ian has been an invaluable member of our leadership team and has enjoyed a highly successful career, especially in his most recent role as our senior client liaison," commented Joe Tarantola, CEO of Kline. "While we are excited about the additions of Hardeep and Frances to our team and pleased that Ian will continue to work with them towards a seamless transition, we will miss his tireless dedication to driving the growth and success of our Management Consulting Practice. Meanwhile, we wish him all the best in his retirement."

Frances Davidson, who recently joined Kline's U.S. office, brings over 25 years business development and project management experience in oil, refined products, chemicals, and polymers industries. She comes from Townsend Solutions, a plastic and chemical industry consultancy where she was a business development director. In this role, she has helped various major petrochemical/oil companies with their significant business objectives by providing strategic consulting and research projects across the chemical process industries.

Projects that Davidson has delivered include the identification of buyers for new products or new locations, logistics optimization and expansion plans and operational cost reduction through analysis of competitors' costs and positioning, throughout the supply chain. She has also worked on various acquisition, business growth, and market analyses strategies.

Hardeep Parmar, who has recently joined Kline's London office, brings invaluable experience of the petrochemicals and chemical industry accrued at consultancies including Nexant, Jacobs Consultancy, and Arthur D. Little, United Kingdom. Parmar was responsible for providing commercial insights and recommendations to support corporate clients developing investment strategies to support expansions and entering new markets.

Parmar delivered projects which included strategic vision workshops to support the development of strategic business plans and consulting services advising institutional investors of world-scale projects in the Middle East and Africa, as well as transactional advisory services delivering technical and commercial due diligence projects for the intermediate and specialty chemical segment, among others. She also provided market research and commercial advisory services to investors in specialty chemicals and the renewable energy industry including solar, biofuels, and "green" chemicals.

Mark DeDecker will take over as Managing Director of the Brussels office, while Butcher maintains a Directorship of Kline Europe SA.

About Kline

Kline is a worldwide consulting and research firm dedicated to providing the kind of insight and knowledge that helps companies find a clear path to success. The firm has served the management consulting and market research needs of organizations in the agrochemicals, chemicals, materials, energy, life sciences, and consumer products industries for almost 60 years. For more information, visit www.KlineGroup.com.