Board of Directors

To read director biographies move the cursor over each directors names.

• Sir John Anderson
  (Chairman)

  Sir John Anderson, KBE Chairman (appointed 1 March 2010) (Independent Director) Sir John is currently Chairman of the New Zealand Venture Investment Fund, and NPT Limited. He serves as a Director on the Board of the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Turners and Growers Limited and Steel & Tube Limited. Sir John was formerly Chief Executive of the ANZ National Bank until his retirement in 2005. He had held advisory and governance roles for successive governments through the 1980s and 1990s.

• Bruce Irvine

  Bruce Irvine BCom, LLB, FCA, FNZIM, AFInstD. (Independent Director) Bruce was appointed to the PGG Wrightson Board in June 2009. Bruce was Managing Partner at Deloitte Christchurch from 1995 to 2007 before his retirement in May 2008. He now acts as an independent director on various boards including: Christchurch City Holdings Ltd, House of Travel Holdings Ltd, Godfrey Hirst NZ Ltd, Market Gardeners Ltd, Rakon Ltd, Scenic Circle Hotels Ltd and Skope Industries Ltd.

• George Gould
  (Managing Director)

  George Gould (Managing Director) George was appointed as a director on 5 January 2010. George is a company director and investor. He is chairman and major shareholder of Christchurch based investment company Gould Holdings Limited which has a successful track record in private equity and New Zealand listed equities. George was managing director of NZX listed Pyne Gould Guinness Limited, leading the management of the merger of that company with Reid Farmers Limited from 2001 to 2003. Prior to that, he was Managing Director of NZX listed South Eastern Utilities Limited, whose main achievement was the acquisition of Wairarapa Electricity Limited in 1996 and its subsequent sale in 1999. A qualified lawyer, George is a graduate of Canterbury University and London School of Economics. He is a fellow of the New Zealand Institute of Management and a member of the Institute of Directors. George is presently an independent director of Orion New Zealand Limited and Christchurch International Airport Limited. He has interests in pastoral farming and commercial property.

• Guanglin Lai (Alan)

  Guanglin Lai (Alan) Alan Lai was appointed as a director on 30 December 2009. Alan has served as the chairman of Agria’s board of directors since June 2007. Alan also served as Agria’s co-chief executive officer from September 2007 to June 2008 and as chief executive officer from November 2008 to September 2009. Alan is a director of BCL, which is Agria’s largest shareholder. In 2002, Alan founded Ace Choice Management Limited, a company that specializes in promoting business and investment activities between the Peoples Republic of China and other countries. From 2000 to 2002, he was managing director of Shenzhen Keding Venture Capital Management Co. Ltd, a venture investment management company. Alan is the chairman of the board of directors and chairman and a member of the nomination committees of China Pipe Group Limited, a Hong Kong-listed company that manufactures construction and energy related pipes in Asia. Alan holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Monash University, Melbourne, Australia and is a certified public accountant in Australia.

• Wai Yip (Patrick) Tsang

  Wai Yip (Patrick) Tsang Mr Tsang was appointed to the Board December 2012. Mr Tsang is the Chief Financial Officer for Agria Corporation (the parent company of PGG Wrightson’s largest shareholder Agria (Singapore) PTE Limited) and began his career with PricewaterhouseCoopers as an auditor. He has held finance roles in a number of companies listed on the main board of Hong Kong Stock Exchange, including China Resources Enterprises Limited and Tianjin Development Holdings Limited. Mr Tsang is currently a director of China Pipe Group Limited, a Hong Kong listed company. He has over 20 years of experience in auditing, accounting, investor relations and corporate finance including initial public offerings, restructuring and merger and acquisition transactions. Mr Tsang holds a Bachelor’s degree in accountancy (Honours) and is a fellow member of the Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants, a fellow member of Association of Chartered Certified Accountants and a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales.

• Lim Siang (Ronald) Seah

  Lim Siang (Ronald) Seah (Independent Director) Mr Seah was appointed to the Board December 2012. Mr Seah is a Singaporean with a background in banking and funds management and spent much of his career working for the AIG group of companies in Singapore, serving as Chairman of AIG Global Investment Corporation (Singapore) Ltd until 2005. He is currently director of a number of listed Singaporean companies including Yanlord Land Group Ltd, for which he is also chairman of the Audit Committee, Global Investments Ltd, Telechoice International Ltd and Invenio Holdings Pte Ltd (a subsidiary of Olam International). Mr Seah holds a Bachelor’s degree in Economics (Honours) from the University of Singapore.

• Kean Seng U

  Kean Seng U Mr U was appointed to the Board December 2012. Mr U is Head of Corporate and Legal Affairs for Agria Corporation, a role he has held since December 2008. He has extensive experience in advising multi-national corporations and sovereign entities on direct investments in The People's Republic of China as well as offshore mergers and acquisitions of foreign assets by entities of The People's Republic of China. Mr U previously practiced as a partner at Singaporean law firm, Shooklin & Bok LLP, focused on East Asia, and he led a corporate finance team in Allen & Overy Shooklin & Bok, JLV, an international law venture partnership with London based Allen & Overy LLP. Mr U sits as independent and non-executive director of several public listed corporations. He received a Bachelor of Laws (Honours) degree from Monash University (Australia). He is a Barrister and Solicitor, Supreme Court of Victoria, Australia; Advocate & Solicitor, Supreme Court of Singapore and Solicitor of England and Wales. In addition to his extensive legal knowledge, Mr U is also a qualified economist, having completed his degree majoring in Economics and Accounting, B Ec at Monash University, Australia.

• Trevor Burt

  Trevor Burt Mr Burt was appointed to the Board December 2012. Mr Burt has had extensive international experience in the industrial gas industry, joining BOC gases NZ in 1986 and retiring from the executive Board of Linde AG in 2007 (Linde AG acquired BOC in 2006). During his time with BOC, Mr Burt served as Managing Director China, Managing Director North Asia and later president for North America. As an executive Board member for Linde AG his accountabilities included overall responsibility for Asia-Pacific operations. In addition to Chairing Ngai Tahu Holding Corporation, Mr Burt is also a director on a number of other well-known New Zealand businesses including Silver Fern Farms, Landpower Holdings, Lyttleton Port Company, Mainpower NZ, a member of the NZTE Beachheads Advisory Board and a commissioner on Earthquake Commission. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in science from Canterbury University, and has completed postgraduate studies in marketing and public relations.