UPDATED: Pyne Gould replaces CFO ahead of capital raising, continues changing the guard

Friday 11th September 2009

Pyne Gould Corp., the finance and rural services group aiming to transform into a bank, has replaced its chief financial officer just days before it is scheduled to announce capital raising plans.

The company named Sean Kam as chief financial officer, replacing Alan Williams, who will move to a new role as head of product and distribution development. Kam’s background is in banking, having been chief operating officer of ABN Amro New Zealand and formerly CFO at Merrill Lynch New Zealand. Pyne Gould also named Craig Stephen as chief investment officer.

The latest appointments mark a continuation of the changing of the guard at Pyne Gould, after Jeff Greenslade was elevated to the position of CEO on June 1, having been hired for a similar role at the company’s MARAC unit in April.

The company is transforming into a banking and asset management group, having agreed in July to acquire Equity Partners Asset Management, an asset manager controlled by Pyne director George Kerr for $18 million. Equity Partners will help form Pyne Gould’s newly created asset management arm, Perpetual Asset Management, and the company this month named former Macquarie Group executive John Duncan to head that business.

“Jeff was appointed to take the company forward – his banking experience at ANZ Bank is going to be extremely important,” said spokesman Geoff Senescall. “He’s got to put the team around him that’s going to deliver on those strategies.”

Pyne Gould has taken steps to strengthen MARAC. The impaired loans are $175 million and they relate to development property loans. The loans will subsequently be acquired by a new unit, Torchlight Credit Fund, one of the arms of Pyne Gould’s Perpetual Asset Management.

Shares of Pyne Gould gained 3.6% to $1.14. The shares have tumbled 70% in the past 12 months.

MARAC’s credit rating was cut to BB+, a junk rating, from BBB-, this month, with the outlook lowered to ‘negative’ from ‘stable,’ suggesting the rating could be lowered further.

"Marac’s credit profile has weakened because of the greater-than-expected deterioration in the company's asset quality over recent months within the property development sector," Standard & Poor's credit analyst Derryl D'silva said this month.

Businesswire.co.nz

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