Christine Corbett quits Incitec Pivot fertiliser role amid demerger tensions

Christine Corbett has quit as the boss of Incitec Pivot’s fertiliser arm, in the latest sign the company’s proposed spin out of the division is sailing in choppy waters.

Christine Corbett has quit as the boss of Incitec Pivot’s fertiliser arm, in the latest sign the company’s proposed spin out of the division is sailing in choppy waters.

Incitec insisted the separation of its fertiliser and explosive arms remained a “strategic priority” for the company’s board, despite opposition from key shareholders and the decision this year to delay the split.

Ms Corbett was appointed as the chief executive designate of the company’s fertiliser division in October 2022, after the company announced its plans to revive the proposal to split the two arms of its business.

Her resignation comes after Incitec managing director Jeanne Johns last week stepped down from the company’s top job.

It is the second time in a year, Ms Corbett has walked away from a CEO designate role.

She was recruited by AGL to run its retailing arm after the energy majors own proposed demerger, but quit as part of a management exodus after Atlassian billionaire Mike Cannon-Brookes scuppered AGL’s plans to split its coal-fired generation business from the rest of its retail and renewable energy assets.

Incitec said on Tuesday that Ms Corbett had quit the company after the company deferred the proposed fertiliser demerger. Originally due to be put to shareholders by the end of 2023, the company put off the decision in order to close the sale of its troubled Waggaman plant in the US, which is expected to be finalised by December.

Incitec said its chairman designate of Incitec Pivot Fertilisers, Mike Carroll, would remain in his role, and the division’s chief financial officer Chris Opperman would be promoted to the role of interim president.

“Incitec continues to progress preparation for the separation of its leading fertiliser business, which has an extensive, vertically integrated distribution network supporting Australia’s East Coast, a globally strategic food bowl,” the company said.

But the plan remains a major source of tension between the company and key shareholders, with institutional owners such as Allan Gray portfolio manager Simon Mawhinney having voiced public opposition to the split.

The company first floated plans to split its explosives and fertilisers business in 2019, through a strategic review to consider options for the sale or demerger of the fertilisers business, but called off the idea in 2020.

Incitec then revived the idea in late 2022, proposing the separate listing of its fertiliser arm, arguing it would help realise the full market valuation of both sides of the company’s business.