As Quiksilver executives made their way to south-west France following the disappearance of CEO Pierre Agnes, the owners of the action sports retailer named Dave Tanner as its new chief and reaffirmed its commitment to take over rival Billabong International.

Mr Tanner, who is the chief turnaround officer, will assume all the CEO responsibilities, effective immediately, the company said in a statement. He is a managing director and head of portfolio transformation team at US firm Oaktree Capital and had been slated to take the top job at Quiksilver upon closing the Billabong acquisition later this year.