WHITE PLAINS, N.Y.,
Oct. 31, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Bunge
Limited (NYSE: BG) announced today that its Board of Directors has
appointed the following three new board members: Paul J. Fribourg, Chairman and Chief Executive
Officer of Continental Grain Company ("Continental Grain");
Gregory Heckman, founding partner of
Flatwater Partners; and Henry W. ("Jay") Winship, President of
Pacific Point Capital, LLC. The appointments are effective today.
With the addition of the three new directors, the Board has
expanded to 14 directors. Bunge, the D. E. Shaw group ("D. E. Shaw") and Continental Grain reached an agreement
to appoint the three directors as well as a fourth, mutually
agreeable independent director to be appointed by year end.
"We welcome these new directors to the Bunge Board and will
benefit from their valuable expertise and perspective as we
continue to transform Bunge, execute on our strategic priorities
and seek ways to enhance shareholder value. We are committed to
engaging with all shareholders as we continue to pursue
value-enhancing opportunities for Bunge," said Soren Schroder, CEO of Bunge.
In addition, Bunge formed a Strategic Review Committee of the
Board, which will be chaired by Paul
Fribourg and will include new directors Greg Heckman and Jay
Winship as well as three current directors, Andrew Ferrier, Kathleen
Hyle and Mark Zenuk. The
Committee will conduct a comprehensive, strategic review focused on
enhancing long-term shareholder value. The Committee will make
recommendations to the CEO and the Board. Bunge expects to
provide future updates as appropriate.
"We are highly appreciative of the collaborative approach taken
by Bunge," said Quentin Koffey,
portfolio manager at D. E. Shaw. "Bunge
is extremely well-positioned within the broader agribusiness and
food sector. We believe that the fresh perspectives and exceptional
backgrounds of these new directors – as well as the strategic
review to be conducted by the newly formed committee – will help
ensure the company can maximize its potential and create
significant shareholder value moving forward."
"While the industry has faced some challenges over the last few
years, we believe that Bunge, with its unparalleled asset base, has
all the elements to further strengthen its position as a world
class leader in the global agribusiness industry," said
Paul Fribourg, Chairman and CEO of
Continental Grain Company. "I look forward to working with Bunge's
Board and management team."
Greg Heckman will join the
Corporate Governance and Nominations Committee, Paul Fribourg will join the Finance and Risk
Policy Committee and Jay Winship
will join the Compensation Committee. The Board has determined that
Mr. Heckman and Mr. Winship are independent directors for purposes
of the NYSE corporate governance listing rules, as well as Bunge's
standards of director independence.
In addition to these new appointments, the company added
Mark Zenuk and Vinita Bali to the board over the past ten
months. Mr. Zenuk has served as Managing Partner of Tillridge
Global Agribusiness Partners, an agribusiness private equity firm,
since 2016. Ms. Bali brings extensive global food industry
experience, having served as Chief Executive Officer of Britannia
Industries, a publicly listed food company in India.
About Paul J. Fribourg
Paul Fribourg has served as
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Continental Grain Company
since 1997 and is a member of its Management Committee. Paul has
over 40 years of experience owning and operating businesses in the
food, agribusiness, and commodities industries. Mr. Fribourg
received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from Amherst College and completed the Advanced
Management Program at Harvard Business
School.
About Gregory Heckman
Greg Heckman is Founding Partner
of Flatwater Partners and has over 30 years of experience in the
agriculture, energy and food processing industries. Most recently,
Greg was CEO of The Gavilon Group. During his time at Gavilon, Greg
led the company through a period of considerable growth in both the
agriculture and energy industries prior to the eventual sale of the
agriculture business to Marubeni Corporation and the energy
business to NGL Energy Partners. Prior to Gavilon, Greg was Chief
Operating Officer of ConAgra Foods Commercial Products and
President and COO of ConAgra Trade Group. Greg holds a Bachelor of
Science in agriculture economics and marketing from the
University of Illinois at
Urbana-Champaign.
About Jay Winship
Jay Winship is currently
President of Pacific Point Capital. Prior to Pacific Point Capital,
Jay was a Principal, Senior Managing Director, and Member of the
Investment Committee at Relational Investors. He has over 20 years
of experience as an institutional investor helping to unlock
substantial value at a wide range of public companies. Jay is a
Magna Cum Laude graduate from the University
of Arizona and holds a Master in Business Administration
from the University of California, Los
Angeles. Jay is a Certified Public Accountant and holds the
professional designation of Chartered Financial Analyst.
About Bunge Limited
Bunge Limited (www.bunge.com, NYSE: BG) is a leading global
agribusiness and food company operating in over 40 countries with
approximately 32,000 employees. Bunge buys, sells, stores and
transports oilseeds and grains to serve customers worldwide;
processes oilseeds to make protein meal for animal feed; produces
edible oil products for consumers and commercial customers in the
food processing, industrial and artisanal bakery, confectionery,
human nutrition and food service categories; produces sugar and
ethanol from sugarcane; mills wheat, corn and rice to make
ingredients used by food companies; and sells fertilizer in
South America. Founded in 1818,
the company is headquartered in White
Plains, New York.
About the D. E. Shaw
group
The D. E. Shaw group is a global
investment and technology development firm with more than
$53 billion in investment capital as
of October 1, 2018, and offices in
North America, Europe, and Asia. Since its founding in 1988, the firm has
earned an international reputation for successful investing based
on innovation, careful risk management, and the quality and depth
of our staff. The D.E. Shaw Group has a significant presence in the
world's capital markets, investing in a wide range of companies and
financial instruments in both developed and developing
economies.
About Continental Grain Company
Established in 1813, privately held Continental Grain is one of
the oldest food and agribusiness companies in the
world. Continental Grain operates as a global investor, owner
and operator of companies across the food, agribusiness, and
commodities spectrum.
Cautionary Statement Concerning Forward-Looking
Statements
This press release contains both historical and forward-looking
statements. All statements, other than statements of historical
fact are, or may be deemed to be, forward-looking statements within
the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as
amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as
amended. These forward-looking statements are not based on
historical facts, but rather reflect our current expectations and
projections about our future results, performance, prospects and
opportunities. We have tried to identify these forward-looking
statements by using words including "may," "will," "should,"
"could," "expect," "anticipate," "believe," "plan," "intend,"
"estimate," "continue" and similar expressions. These
forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks,
uncertainties and other factors that could cause our actual
results, performance, prospects or opportunities to differ
materially from those expressed in, or implied by, these
forward-looking statements. The following important factors, among
others, could affect our business and financial performance:
industry conditions, including fluctuations in supply, demand and
prices for agricultural commodities and other raw materials and
products used in our business; fluctuations in energy and freight
costs and competitive developments in our industries; the effects
of weather conditions and the outbreak of crop and animal disease
on our business; global and regional agricultural, economic,
financial and commodities market, political, social and health
conditions; the outcome of pending regulatory and legal
proceedings; our ability to complete, integrate and benefit from
acquisitions, dispositions, joint ventures and strategic alliances;
our ability to achieve the efficiencies, savings and other benefits
anticipated from our cost reduction, margin improvement and other
business optimization initiatives; changes in government policies,
laws and regulations affecting our business, including agricultural
and trade policies, tax regulations and biofuels legislation; and
other factors affecting our business generally. The forward-looking
statements included in this release are made only as of the date of
this release, and except as otherwise required by federal
securities law, we do not have any obligation to publicly update or
revise any forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent events
or circumstances.
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SOURCE Bunge Limited