ASX-listed Agribusiness developer, Alterra Ltd, has appointed corporate finance veteran, Mike Franklin as its Chief Financial Officer, strengthening a team that recently added capital markets specialist, John McGlue to its ranks of non-executive directors. Franklin was previously CFO then CEO of Titan Australia, a fully owned subsidiary of NYSE listed Titan International, Australia’s largest wheel and axle manufacturer for the agricultural, mining and construction industries.
Alterra, led by Managing Director, Oliver Barnes, now has two corporate finance and capital markets specialists with New York Stock Exchange experience that will no doubt assist Barnes to deliver on his strategy to build a portfolio of institutional investment-grade agricultural assets.
Commenting on Mr Franklin’s appointment, Mr Barnes said:
“Alterra is positioning itself on a rapid growth trajectory and having an experienced CFO to drive financial and corporate governance initiatives is a key component to successfully originating, funding and executing our pipeline of development projects.”
Mr Franklin is both a qualified economist and accountant.
According to Alterra, he has an established record in mergers, acquisitions and business turn-arounds. He has a wealth of experience in the agriculture, construction and manufacturing industries in both ASX-listed and private company environments around Australia.
Perhaps most interestingly, Alterra management says that Franklin has had a hand in raising more than $3 billion over the course of his career, including being part of the team that successfully led the $700 million merger of ASX-listed Foodland Associated Limited with Woolworths New Zealand.
Mr Franklin said: “I was drawn to the position at Alterra as I recognised its significant growth potential. I believe my existing networks will be valuable in supporting this growth as well as my experience in establishing one of Australia’s largest agricultural holdings.”
“Alterra’s strategy in acquiring quality, value accretive projects is attractive to a growing number of capital providers interested in the asset class, and I look forward to contributing to Alterra’s business strategy and growing its capacity to deliver projects at scale.”
Alterra’s new strategy to build long term agricultural crops using a mix of its own and investor money is starting to take shape now with its first avocado project secured in the South West.
This project will require a bag of capital to get up and running and no doubt Alterra will lean on both Franklin and McGlue’s contacts to make it happen.
Is your ASX listed company doing something interesting ? Contact : matt.birney@businessnews.com.au
