McKinsey boss Barton could be Teck chairman
VANCOUVER • Teck Resources Ltd. has held talks with Dominic Barton, the global managing partner of consulting firm McKinsey & Co, about becoming the mining giant’s next chairman, replacing Norman Keevil, two people familiar with the matter told Reuters.
Keevil, 79, Teck’s chairman since 2001 and the patriarch of t he Keevil f amily that controls the $ 12.3- billion Vancouverbased miner, could retire at the company’s next annual shareholders meeting, set for April, the people added.
Teck did not respond directly to questions about the talks with Barton and Keevil’s possible retirement.
London- based Barton, a Ugandan- born Canadian who has been managing director of McKinsey since 2009 and is due to step down next June, declined to comment. McKinsey did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Barton, 55, who grew up in the Vancouver area, has been with McKinsey f or some 30 years, including stints in the firm’s Asia operations.
He serves on various business advisory bodies and chairs Finance Minister Bill Morneau’s advisory council on economic growth.
Teck’s chief executive, Donald Lindsay, who is also a director of the company, met with Barton earlier this year to discuss the chairman’s role, one of the people said.
It is unclear if the talks are ongoing and whether Barton was interested in the job. It is also unclear whether Teck’s board has held talks with other potential candidates.
A Teck spokesman pointed to the company’s 2017 management proxy circular, which said the company maintains a “standing list of potential candidates as directors in anticipation of the need to replace existing directors.”
Teck is one of the world’s biggest producers of zinc and steelmaking coal, and also produces copper and gold. It owns mines in North and South America and has investments in the oil sands.
Keevil, who joined Teck in 1962 as vice president of exploration, rose to chief executive in 1981, a position he held until 2001 when he became chairman. His father, also named Norman Keevil, was CEO and chairman of Teck before him.