Wrightson chair John Anderson to retire at October meeting

PGG Wrightson chairman John Anderson will retire from the rural services company at the annual meeting next month.

Anderson, who joined the board during a tumultuous shake-up in 2010, will step down from the board at the Oct. 22 meeting, the company said in a statement. A new chairman will be appointed after the meeting. Anderson’s appointment coincided with a changing of the guard in 2010 when Craig Norgate and Baird McConnnon left the board and China’s Agria Corp came on as a cornerstone investor, going on to mount a partial takeover of the company.

“We’ve fixed the balance sheet and invested in the operating systems, staff and infrastructure of the business,” Anderson said. “The business is now ready for its next phase of development and I think it’s time for someone else to lead the board through this.”

In June Wrightson appointed for Livestock Improvement Corp boss Mark Dewdney as its new chief executive, replacing South Island businessman George Gould, who was brought in to get the company back into shape.

Last week the company agreed to buy water businesses Water Dynamics and Aquaspec from Switzerland’s Pentair for an undisclosed sum, boosting its irrigation business and giving it operations in the North Island.

The shares were unchanged at 39 cents today, and have dropped 11 percent this year.

(BusinessDesk)