WEST CHESTER, Pa., May 30 /PRNewswire/ -- VWR International, a leader in the global research laboratory industry, today announced the appointment of George Van Kula as Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary for the Company. Mr. Van Kula joins VWR from Honeywell International, Inc., where he served as Vice President and General Counsel, Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA), based in Brussels, Belgium.
Mr. Van Kula, will report directly to John Ballbach, President and CEO of VWR International. His appointment is effective immediately.
Mr. Ballbach commented, "We're very fortunate to have someone of George's caliber join our organization -- we are very pleased to have him. His wealth of international law experience and expertise, particularly in Europe, will provide us tremendous value as we seek to grow our business in this region of the world. He will continue to build our legal and regulatory infrastructure both here in the U.S. and abroad."
Mr. Van Kula added, "This is truly an outstanding opportunity -- I look forward to working with John and the VWR management team."
Mr. Van Kula joined Honeywell in December 1996, and held several positions before becoming Vice President and General Counsel, Europe, Middle East and Africa in November 2001. He was responsible for the legal affairs of Honeywell's EMEA operations with over $7 billion in revenue and 27,000 employees.
Prior to joining Honeywell, Mr. Van Kula spent the first eight years of his legal career with Latham & Watkins in the Los Angeles and London offices, providing counsel to U.S. and foreign companies and investment banks in a variety of mergers and acquisitions, corporate finance transactions and general corporate matters.
About VWR International, Inc.
VWR International is a leader in the global research laboratory industry with worldwide sales of $3.0 billion US dollars. VWR's business is highly diversified across a spectrum of products and services, customer groups and geography. The company offers more than 1,200,000 products, from more than 2,500 manufacturers, to over 250,000 customers throughout North America and Europe. VWR's primary customers work in the pharmaceutical, life science, chemical, technology, food processing and consumer product industries. Other important customers include universities and research institutes; governmental agencies; environmental testing organizations; and primary and secondary schools. VWR International affiliates operate in 20 countries and employ approximately 6,100 people. The company's mission is to deliver excellence in the distribution of scientific supplies. The VWR International Group is headquartered in West Chester, Pennsylvania.
VWR and design are trademarks of VWR International, Inc.
VWR International, Inc.CONTACT: Robin Gervasoni, Phone, +1-610-430-7258, Fax, +1-610-719-7099,robin_gervasoni@vwr.com, for VWR International, Inc.
