Anglo American plc appoints Sir John Parker as Chairman
10 July, 2009
Anglo American plc is pleased to announce the appointment of Sir John Parker as Chairman. Sir John will join the Board of Anglo American plc as a non-executive director with immediate effect and will become Chairman on 1 August, succeeding Sir Mark Moody-Stuart, who will be retiring from the Board after seven years as Chairman.
Sir John is Chairman of National Grid plc and is also Joint Chairman of the Mondi Group with Cyril Ramaphosa. As he takes up his position at Anglo American, Sir John will step down from several of his board and other commitments, having recently stepped down as Chair of the Court of the Bank of England.
Anglo American’s Board appointed a search committee of independent directors chaired by Peter Woicke, former CEO of the International Finance Corporation, with members Dr Mamphela Ramphele, former Vice Chancellor of the University of Cape Town and former Managing Director of the World Bank, Sir C K Chow, Chief Executive of the Hong Kong MTR, and the late Karel van Miert, former European Commissioner and Member of the European Parliament. After a global search of several months, the committee made a unanimous recommendation to the board, which in turn unanimously agreed to appoint Sir John Parker.
Sir Mark Moody-Stuart, Chairman of Anglo American plc, said: “I am very pleased to welcome Sir John Parker to Anglo American following the Board’s unanimous decision to appoint him as Chairman. Sir John is recognised as a highly experienced and independent chairman, has chaired four FTSE 100 companies and brings a wealth of leadership experience across a range of industries in many countries, including in South Africa. The Group is now well positioned to capitalise on its considerable growth prospects as a focused and responsible global mining company and to deliver on its cost saving and efficiency commitments.”
Sir John Parker said: “Anglo American has many great strengths, including a portfolio of high quality mining assets, an impressive growth profile, substantial and well advanced efficiency programmes and a unique position in precious commodities. With deep roots in South Africa, a country I know very well through my years at Babcock International and my more recent role at Mondi working jointly with Cyril Ramaphosa, this global company has an opportunity to deliver considerable further growth and value in the coming years. I look forward to working with the board and the excellent management team led by Cynthia Carroll to deliver those prospects to shareholders. Anglo has undergone a major transformation in recent years and I look forward to my new role, leading the Board through the next stage of the company’s development.”
Cynthia Carroll, Chief Executive of Anglo American plc, said: “I welcome Sir John as our new Chairman and look forward to working with him. He will bring significant insight and experience to the Board as we deliver value for all our stakeholders through the Group’s growth and efficiency strategies embedded across our portfolio of world class mining assets. Sir Mark Moody-Stuart has led the Group through a period of significant change, introducing a strong stakeholder focus and reinforcing our position as a modern and responsible mining company.
On behalf of the Board and all our employees around the world, I would like to thank Sir Mark for his invaluable leadership and tireless contribution over the past seven years and we wish him well.”