Glencore Agricultural Boss to Retire

By Jacob Bunge 

The head of Glencore PLC's agricultural division is leaving the company amid turbulent grain markets and after a failed effort to take over a rival.

Chris Mahoney, chief executive of Glencore Agriculture and a 21-year veteran of the company, is retiring at the end of September, according to the company. He will be succeeded by David Mattiske, who currently oversees Glencore's agricultural business in Europe and Asia.

Mr. Mahoney's exit after 17 years leading the Swiss mining conglomerate's grain-trading operations could make it less likely that Glencore will soon pursue a major deal in the agricultural industry. Glencore approached Bunge Ltd., a 200-year-old crop trading and processing giant, about a takeover, The Wall Street Journal reported in 2017, but those talks didn't lead to any deal.

Glencore Chief Executive Ivan Glasenberg since then has told investors that the company is interested in agricultural acquisitions, but at the right price. "It would have to be a compelling situation," he said on a February 20 conference call.

Mr. Mahoney said in a statement: "I am proud to have played a part in the significant development of Glencore Agriculture over the last 20 years."

Glencore has expanded its agricultural business over the years, including its 2012 purchase of Canadian grain company Viterra. Glencore's agriculture business, like its rivals, has struggled due to persistently low crop prices and trade disputes that have altered the typical global trade flows in grain. Glencore's Canadian business faces further challenges, including a Bunge-backed Vancouver port expected to open later this year, boosting competition for Canadian crops, and tense Canadian-Chinese relations that have cut into Canada's agricultural exports to China.

In February, Glencore said 2018 profit for its agricultural division fell 23% to $484 million, due to poor crops in Australia, Argentina and Brazil, as well as trade tensions between the U.S. and China.

Mr. Mahoney's departure from Glencore extends an exodus of top-level grain trading executives this spring. Archer Daniels Midland Co., Louis Dreyfus Co. and Cargill Inc. have named new grain and agricultural supply chain heads in recent weeks. Bunge and Gavilon Group, a major U.S. grain company based in Omaha, Neb., have named new CEOs this year.

Scott Patterson contributed to this article.

Write to Jacob Bunge at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 23, 2019 14:00 ET (18:00 GMT)

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