Robert Spurway picked to expand GrainCorp

GrainCorp chairman Graham Bradley will hand new chief Robert Spurway the brief to expand the grains business.

Outgoing GrainCorp chief Mark Palmquist

GrainCorp chairman Graham Bradley and his board will hand new chief executive Robert Spurway the brief to expand the grains business through organic growth and acquisitions as the company prepares to demerge its malt business early next year.

One of Australia’s leading grains handlers and exporters, GrainCorp has turned to Mr Spurway to reshape the business and prepare it for its next growth phase after announcing the 25-year veteran of the food and dairy industries as the new CEO.

GrainCorp has poached the CEO from New Zealand dairy giant Fonterra, where he has held the position of chief operating officer, global operations, for the past six years.

Fonterra is a New Zealand multinational dairy co-operative and New Zealand’s largest company, with more than $NZ20bn ($19bn) in revenue. In his role, he led Fonterra’s global operations business and had responsibility for the group’s manufacturing and supply chain operations.

Mr Bradley told The Australian Mr Spurway had all the necessary skills and experience that GrainCorp was looking for.

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“He is a very experienced senior executive, he has run a significantly larger business in New Zealand, virtually 50 per cent of Fonterra’s business including its international food, food ingredients and related businesses, so he brings deep experience with the food and food ingredient business and international operations and supply chain marketing experience,’’ Mr Bradley said.

“We were looking for all of those qualities plus someone who would provide a first-rate leadership as a public company CEO and, although he has been in Fonterra as a senior executive not as a CEO, he has dealt with government, dairy farmers, farmers and shareholders as part of the senior leadership team there.’’

Mr Bradley said Mr Spurway would have a goal of growing the GrainCorp business as it looked to demerge the malt division in March or April. He would also find “the best high-value growth opportunities for our privileged set of assets, both the grain supply chain and the food and food ingredients businesses.”

“Whatever is the best way of optimising our assets to the advantage of our shareholders in the long term, and that will include organic growth of course, but we are certainly not excluding the prospect of acquiring or expanding into adjacent businesses,’’ he said.

GrainCorp’s current CEO, Mark Palmquist, will become managing director and CEO of the malt business upon a successful demerger vote by GrainCorp shareholders at the company’s extraordinary general meeting and subsequent court approval.