Fonterra owners unsettled at top changes
New Fonterra chairman John Monaghan chairs his first board meeting in the job today as questions persist about governance quality around the sudden change at the top table of New Zealand’s biggest company.
Fonterra’s announcement on July 27 that chairman John Wilson had stood down with immediate effect as “he recovers from a recent serious health scare” and “significant surgery” within the past month, surprised the dairy co-operative’s supplying shareholders and the sharemarket.
Monaghan was named to take over from the embattled Wilson who was criticised by the Beehive recently for Fonterra’s heavy capital investment losses in China.
While Fonterra is not a public company it offers listed investment units to the public. Experienced sharemarket company directors have told the Herald normal practice in the case of serious illness of a chairperson or chief executive would be a market announcement at the time.
“I would have thought for any company with a high profile and national significance that a market announcement to that effect would be made,” said one.
Another said it seemed odd that Wilson had had surgery and was getting treatment but that was the first the market knew of it.
The Fonterra Shareholders’ Council, which represents Fonterra’s 10,000-or so supplier-owners, learned the day before the announcement that Wilson was stepping down, council leader Duncan Coull has said.
Meanwhile, influential shareholders continue to agitate about the timing of the announcement, four days after nominations closed for upcoming director elections.
Asked why no earlier notice had been given of Wilson’s health issue to shareholders and the market, Fonterra said in a statement it was “difficult to answer” the Herald’s questions while protecting Wilson’s right to privacy.
The timing of Wilson’s serious health scare was totally outside his control, the company said.