Elders will install a new chairman in December when recently appointed director and former banker, Michael Carroll, is set to replace Hutch Ranck.
Mr Ranck, previously an Australian and Asian boss of chemical giant, DuPont, has announced plans to retire at the conclusion of the company’s annual general meeting in Adelaide on December 13.
He has been a non-executive director on the board since June 2008 and has spent the past four years as chairman.
He replaced Mark Allison in April 2014 when Mr Allison stepped into the managing director’s job, having himself only held the chairman’s role for nine months following John Ballard’s retirement.
US-born Mr Ranck said it was the right time to step down after an “immensely satisfying” 10 years of service.
Bounce back
He had seen the historic farm services company emerge from significant financial distress to bounce back as a robust and strongly performing company which shareholders were investing in again.
Mike Carroll, who was appointed to Elders board on September 3, still needs to have his director’s position confirmed by a shareholder vote at the AGM.
He has had an extensive experience career in the agricultural sector in both senior executive and board roles.
Mr Carroll has acknowledged Mr Ranck’s significant legacy at Elders and joined directors in extended their sincere thanks to the chairman for his substantial contribution to the company.
Mr Carroll said he looked forward to taking Elders through its next phase of growth and development.
The former National Australia Bank agribusiness boss is also on the boards of almond grower and food processor, Select Harvests and Rural Funds Management.
He is chairman of the Australian Rural Leadership Foundation and also hold’s directorships with non-listed companies Paraway Pastoral Company and Viridis Ag.
He is a past director with seafood business, Tassal Group, Warrnambool Cheese and Butter, Queensland Sugar, Rural Finance Corporation of Victoria, the Australian Farm Institute, the Geoffrey Gardiner Dairy Foundation, and Meat and Livestock Australia.
Related reading:
Mr Carroll has also worked in the animal health and crop protection industries.
Last month Elders confirmed it had also poached Meat and Livestock Australia’s (MLA) high profile managing director, Richard Norton, to be its branch network general manager.
He will leave MLA in December 7 after four and half years, having previously run the Landmark farm services business and working with Ruralco.
An Elders statement said he would be engaged on the same terms as Mr Ranck.
Retiring Mr Ranck joined Elders board after 31 years with DuPont in Australia, Hong Kong and the USA, including 11 years as Australia and New Zealand chief executive officer and six years heading the company’s South East Asian business.
He has also served on the Business Council of Australia and CSIRO boards and is a director of Iluka Resources.
Elders shares have traded around $7.30 this week after slipping from mid-year highs of $9.39 as dry seasonal conditions continue to weigh on farm sector stocks, despite some recent useful rainfall in eastern Australia.
Although down in recent months, the company’s share price is almost double its price of two years ago.
Does this article interest you? Scroll down to the comments section and start the conversation. You only need to sign up once and create a profile in the Disqus comment management system for permanent access to all discussions.
Andrew Marshall
Andrew Marshall is the group agribusiness writer for ACM's state agricultural weeklies and websites. He is a former editor at The Land and has worked in various Rural Press group roles in Canberra, North Richmond (NSW) and Toowoomba (Qld).
Andrew Marshall is the group agribusiness writer for ACM's state agricultural weeklies and websites. He is a former editor at The Land and has worked in various Rural Press group roles in Canberra, North Richmond (NSW) and Toowoomba (Qld).
