Bunge Ltd appointed the chief executive of agrichemicals company Syngenta to its board on Wednesday as part of an agreement with activist investors D.E. Shaw and Continental Grain Co.
The global grains trader named J. Erik Fyrwald as a director, as it navigates low crop prices and the trade war that has slashed U.S. crop exports to China.
D.E. Shaw and Continental Grain had pushed Bunge to add board members in hopes of jolting the company into improved performance. Bunge said in October it would add four directors and create a strategic review committee to explore options for the company, including a sale. Bunge named three of the directors at that time.
Fyrwald, 59, is a fourth mutually agreed-upon director, according to Bunge.
The board expansion comes after Bunge fielded unsuccessful takeover bids by rival Archer Daniels Midland Co and commodities trader Glencore.
ChemChina bought Syngenta for $43 billion last year in China’s biggest foreign takeover to date. Fyrwald has been Syngenta’s CEO since 2016 and previously worked for DuPont.
By Tom Polansek
Source: Reuters
In the lead-up to the world-famous Oktoberfest – which celebrates Bavarian tradition, beer and the festival spirit – Munich was already buzzing with activity by the time the doors opened to Drinktec 2022 on 12-16 September. The atmosphere was lively, with approximately 50,000 visitors from 169 countries in attendance.
Unilever has announced CEO Alan Jope’s decision to retire from the company at the end of 2023, after five years at the helm. The announcement comes less than a year after a failed attempt by Unilever to buy GlaxoSmithKline’s consumer healthcare business and just months after activist investor Nelson Peltz joined the company’s board.
Lakeland Dairies has announced that Colin Kelly will assume the role of group CEO following the retirement of Michael Hanley at the end of the year. Kelly will take up the position in January 2023, while Hanley will step down in December this year.
