Nichol is new PGW chair
A day after the ouster of PGG Wrightson’s chair and his deputy, the listed rural trader’s board has appointed John Nichol as the new independent chair.
In a NZX filing yesterday afternoon, PGW says it will issue a notice of meeting at the relevant time together with appropriate information for shareholders about the matters to be addressed at the meeting.
Agria Singapore, which holds a 44% stake in PGW, is seeking a special shareholders meeting where it wants to overhaul the PGW board – removing directors Garry Moore, Sarah Brown and Charlotte Severne. It is proposing to appoint former PGW chairman Alan Lai, Wilson Liu, Vena Crawley and Traci Houpapa as new directors.
PGW says following receipt of the notice on the afternoon of 8 February 2024 PGW promptly sought to engage with Agria in relation to the matters outlined in the notice and sought advice from its external lawyers, Chapman Tripp.
“The PGW board convened on 12 February and 13 February to discuss the notice and has continued to liaise with Agria to explore whether Agria would withdraw the request to enable a more constructive board transition to take place.
“Following further dialogue today, Agria has this afternoon confirmed that it will not withdraw the notice requesting that a special shareholders meeting be convened and accordingly PGW is preparing for a shareholders meeting.”
Lai, founder of Agria Corporation, stepped down from the PGW board in 2018, following investigation for alleged securities law breaches in Singapore.
