Australian Agricultural Company (AACo) CEO and managing director Hugh Killen has resigned, effective immediately. AACo chair Donald McGauchie said the company’s COO Dave Harris would act as interim CEO while a search for Killen’s replacement took place.
Killen joined the company in 2017, and became managing director and CEO in 2018. Prior to that he was at Westpac for more than 16 years, his final role was as managing director of Westpac Institutional Bank.
His sudden departure coincided with Andrew Forrest’s family investment arm Tattarang making its third major investment in the company this year.
Tattering became a substantial shareholder (5.3 per cent) in AACo in February, when it bought almost 32 million shares for $35 million.
In May, Forrest’s firm bought $30.8 million in shares, increasing its holding from 5.3 per cent to 7.9 per cent.
On 17 June, it acquired a further 10 per cent of the AACo for $122 million, to bring its holding to 17.4 per cent.
Killen resigned on 21 June.
Many of the share purchased by Tattarang came from Heytesbury, the private family-owned company of Paul Holmes a Court, which sold $96.87 million worth of shares on 16 May.
McGauchie said, “Hugh and the board agree that now is the right time to begin an orderly executive leadership transition… Hugh has steered AACo through some of the worst droughts and floods Australia has ever seen, the global impacts of Covid and market fluctuations which occurred as a result of market impacts.”
In FY22, the company posted its strongest financial results since it relisted on the ASX in 2001, but has not paid a dividend since 2008.
“By delivering on AACo’s brand potential and investing capital back into the business, Hugh has balanced the need to strengthen the foundations while leading a simpler and more efficient AACo to create value for shareholders,” McGauchie said.
Sustainability was a major focus for Killen, with the company launching its inaugural sustainability framework in November 2021, including a pilot program to trial seaweed in livestock feed with Tasmanian seaweed manufacturer Sea Forest.
