APA taps Rob Wheals to succeed veteran Mick McCormack as CEO

Gas operator APA has anointed an insider to replace veteran CEO Mick McCormack.

Long-serving boss of gas pipeline giant APA Group Mick McCormack. John Feder/The Australian.

Gas operator APA Group has announced that Rob Wheals will take the reins from outgoing chief executive Mick McCormack when retires in July.

Mr Wheals, currently the group’s transmission executive, joined APA (APA) in 2008 following a stint at AAPT where he was general manager of strategy.

“Rob is a strategic thinker with ‘hands on’ operating experience and a strong track record in delivering results,” chairman Michael Fraser said.

“Rob is passionate about delivering for the customer and understands the importance of culture in driving business performance.

“The appointment of an internal candidate is testament to the quality of APA’s senior leadership team.”

Mr Fraser acknowledged the longstanding contribution of Mr McCormack, who has been at the helm of APA Group for 14 years. He announced his intension to retire late last year.

“Under Mick’s leadership, APA has grown to be one of Australia’s great business success stories,” Mr Fraser said.

“Mick has been an outstanding leader helping to grow APA to an ASX 50 listed business with over 1800 employees and a market capitalisation today of approximately $12 billion.”

In February, APA Group booked an interim net profit after tax of $157.4m, up 27 per cent on the prior year, partly due to the contribution of new revenue from a number of recently completed projects.

Mick McCormack earlier said he expects a fresh takeover bid may emerge for the gas operator and says the Australian government’s decision to block a $13bn bid from Hong Kong’s CK Group helped trigger his decision to step down.

Mr Wheals will officially step into the new role on July 6.