After 10 years at the helm of Amcor, Ken MacKenzie has decided to retire from the position of managing director and chief executive officer, Amcor chairman, Graeme Liebelt announced on 22 January.
“I believe after 10 years in the role the time is right to hand over the leadership of the company. I have been fortunate to lead a very talented and committed team through an exciting journey that has created a global leader in the packaging industry with an extensive footprint and considerable opportunity for further growth,” MacKenzie stated.
He will leave Amcor at the end of the 2015 financial year and be succeeded by Ron Delia, currently Amcor’s chief financial officer.
Speaking at the media conference following the ASX announcement today, Ken MacKenzie said he was comfortable that he was leaving his successor with a company that is in "very good shape", that is a "market leader in its chosen segments" of flexible and rigid packaging, with a "very healthy acquisition pipeline".
Delia, 43, who has been with the company for nine years and was in fact Mackenzie's first recruit in his role as CEO, said it's a great time to take the helm when "nothing is broken", the company has in place a ''great leadership team" and a strong presence in emerging markets (evenly spread across Asia, Latin America and Eastern Europe) accounting for 30% overall sales, and with opportunities to deliver improvements on its current position of strength in all markets. When questioned, he chose not to elaborate on what he thought those improvements would be, but suggested that in line with the company's strategy, the market could "expect more of the same" when it comes to growth by acquisition and a focus on innovation.
MacKenzie reiterated that the company's pipeline of acquisitions was "rich" and "robust" with opportunities in all the markets that Amcor operates in, but that there were no plans to diversify outside of Amcor's current portfolio. He plans to remain in Melbourne after his role ends in June.
Delia joined Amcor in 2005 and has been its chief financial officer since February 2011. Before then, he was vice president of the Rigid Plastics Latin America operations (2008-2011) and executive vice president corporate operations (2005-2008). Prior to joining Amcor, Delia spent five years with McKinsey & Company in New York after starting his career in commercial roles in the packaging industry. He has an MBA from Harvard University and a Bachelor of Science degree.
Delia commented on his appointment, “Amcor’s success over the past decade has been built on the strength of a high quality and talented team of people. The business has developed a focused portfolio, built a unique operating model for the packaging industry, and established a clear understanding of shareholder value creation. These components will remain the foundations of the company going forward.”
Liebelt stated, “Succession planning for Mr MacKenzie has been underway for some time and Mr Delia was selected after considering a strong field of well-qualified candidates from Amcor’s global management team. Mr MacKenzie felt it was the right time to pass the baton to the next CEO and the Board thanks him for his extraordinary contribution to the Company over the past 10 years.”
