Noble Agri appoints new CEO

Singapore

NOBLE Agri, the agribusiness unit of embattled commodity trader Noble Group and Chinese state-owned firm Cofco Corporation, has poached the president of the oilseeds business unit of Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) to be its new chief executive officer.

Matthew Jansen, 48, who was also ADM's senior vice-president and its chief risk officer, will step into his new role with immediate effect, Noble said on Tuesday.

He replaces Noble Group's chief executive Yusuf Alireza, who has been serving as Noble Agri's interim chief executive since the group divested a 51 per cent stake of Noble Agri to Cofco for US$3.5 billion last year.

Mr Jansen, who holds a Bachelor of Science degree in agricultural economics, was previously in charge of ADM's Brazilian operations for seven years. He then moved to North America to become corporate vice-president and president of ADM's grain group, the largest grain group in North America.

He joins Noble at a critical juncture. This year, it came under scrutiny for allegedly inflating its accounts. Its share price plunged nearly 29 per cent as a result; the group has since pledged to be more transparent.

Frank Ning, chairman of Noble Agri and Cofco Corporation, said Mr Jansen's depth of knowledge and broad business experience made him "ideally suited" to drive the future growth of Noble Agri.

Bloomberg reported earlier that Mr Jansen is at least the second executive from a US grain trader to join an agricultural commodity company in the Asia-Pacific in the past year. It added that the venture will enable Cofco to compete with the biggest commodity traders as rising incomes drive up demand for food in China.