NEW ZEALAND – Fonterra Co-operative Group’s Chairman, John Monaghan has confirmed that he will retire as a Director of the dairy Co-operative after serving as in the company’s board for more than a decade.
Monaghan will retire at the company’s Annual Meeting this November, marking the end of his current 3-year term as Fonterra’s Chairman ends. Monaghan was elected to the board in 2008 and became chairman last year, replacing John Wilson.
In a note to the Co-operative’s farmer-owners and unitholders, Mr Monaghan explained that his decision was the next step in the Fonterra Board’s development and succession planning.
“After 11 years as a Director, and having seen through the introduction of our new strategy, operating model, and with our debt reduction efforts well progressed, the timing is right for me and for the Co-op.
“The Board is committed to a planned Chair succession that provides Miles and his senior management team with the governance stability and confidence they need to maintain the Co-op’s momentum”, says Monaghan.
The New-Zealand farmer owned dairy co-operative said its Board’s current plan was to announce a Chair-elect by no later than August this year.
According to the company, the timeline would give its farmer-owners transparency of leadership prior to the Co-operative’s Director elections and allow for a period of handover before Mr Monaghan retires from the Board.
Under Fonterra’s constitution, its Chairman must be selected from its pool of seven elected Farmer Directors on the Board. Its Independent Directors are not eligible for consideration as Chairman.
The Co-operative will also provide an update on a replacement for former Independent Director Simon Israel, who retired from its Board in November last year.
Fonterra says it is making good progress on securing a replacement for Mr Israel and will make the announcement once a suitable candidate has been confirmed. The company recently appointed Fraser Whineray to its management team in the newly created role of Chief Operating Officer as the dairy processor looks to focus on rolling out its new restructuring strategy
