Noble eyes banker for top job

Noble Group is set to appoint Ian Potter, a former senior banker at Morgan Stanley, as its next chair in a few weeks, just as the commodities trader seeks to complete its $3.5bn debt restructuring, sources with knowledge of the matter said on Monday.

Singapore-based Potter has been working with Noble in an advisory capacity for a few months, said one of the sources, who declined to be named as Singapore-listed Noble has not made any official announcement about its next chair.

Potter is a managing partner at Lion City Capital, a private investment company.

He previously had a nearly two-decade stint at Morgan Stanley, where he was the head of its Asia commodities, among several other roles, according to his LinkedIn profile.

Paul Brough, a restructuring veteran and Noble’s chair, brought the firm back from one of the biggest near-death corporate experiences in Asia and had said he would step down once the restructuring of the company was completed.

Noble’s next chair will be tasked with steering the company into profitability as it transforms into an Asia-centric trader mainly dealing with coal, freight and liquefied natural gas.

Noble is seeking approval from a UK court and a Bermuda court for its restructuring and payment to creditors, in what would mark its final hurdle to completing the debt-for-equity swap. Faced with the prospect of insolvency, Noble’s shareholders reluctantly backed its restructuring plan.

The Financial Times reported on Monday that Potter had emerged as the frontrunner to be the next chair of the group.