Managing director Russell Foxley has provisionally taken on Kington's responsibility for print media sales.

A BASF statement said: "Russell Foxley is confident the strong team at BASF will continue to achieve growth in the market."

Foxley joined the company in 1992, and became managing director in February this year.

Before his departure, Kington had had a successful year, closing a 6m deal with Communisis in September 2003.

When contacted for his Power 100 profile earlier this year, sources described Kington as "the right man for the ink industry at the moment".

As PrintWeek went to press, neither Foxley nor Kington were available for comment.