PPC Ltd. (PPC) has a shortlist of six candidates to succeed Ketso Gordhan as CEO and plans to make an appointment if shareholders vote to retain the board, Chairman Bheki Sibiya said.
Gordhan resigned as head of South Africa’s biggest cement company in September after fellow directors blocked his attempt to fire CFO Tryphosa Ramano. Investors will vote on 8 December whether to appoint a new set of directors.
“We have 85 candidates, of whom six are the cream of the crop,” Sibiya said. “We are looking at a person who is going to buy into the board’s strategy. We are not looking at anybody who is going to change the strategy.”
PPC is expanding in African countries and plans to have 40% of sales outside its home market by 2017.
Gordhan’s replacement will be selected after the shareholders’ meeting and will ideally have merger and acquisition experience to help continue PPC’s expansion. The company has operations in the DRC, Zimbabwe and Ethiopia.
The PPC board has the support of the Public Investment Corp., which holds an 11% stake. The PIC is Africa’s biggest fund manager and controls South African civil servant pension funds.
By Chris Spillane
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2014-11-13/ppc-of-south-africa-has-six-candidates-on-shortlist-for-new-ceo
