Anglo Pacific Group PLC (LSE:APF, TSX:APY, OTC:AGPIF) has promoted chief investment officer Marc Bishop Lafleche to chief executive of the company.
He will succeed Julian Treger when he steps down on 31 March, as previously announced.
Bishop Lafleche has been with the mining royalty group for the past eight years, and in his current has been responsible for originating and executing acquisitions and disposals.
This included the recent and transformational Voisey's Bay cobalt stream acquisition and the successful exit of Anglo Pacific's only thermal coal royalty.
Chairman Patrick Meier said: “This appointment follows a highly rigorous process, which resulted in a number of very strong candidates being considered. The board unanimously felt that Marc is ideally suited to continue the disciplined and ambitious growth path focussed on commodities that support a more sustainable world.”
Bishop Lafleche said: “I look forward to working with the board as we continue to build a diversified exposure to a basket of commodities required to achieve the decarbonisation of energy consumption and the achievement of global climate change objectives.
“We will continue our disciplined approach to acquiring value accretive royalties and streams as well as focus on sustainability as we execute our stated strategy. I look forward to leading this next chapter.”
Treger’s remuneration arrangements on stepping down will comprise good leaver treatment in respect of outstanding share awards, subject to remuneration committee approval, which would include awards under the company's deferred share bonus plan and LTIP pro-rated in respect of time served to 31 March 2022 and vest at the normal time.
In a note to clients, broker Peel Hunt said the appointment "should provide continuity in APF's strategy on the acquisition, deleveraging and dividend fronts" and "most importantly... could potentially enable a quicker execution on the existing project pipeline than with an external appointment".
Also, at Berenberg it was noted that Bishop Lafleche "has a strong presence and history" as well as being "a proven originator and closer of deals".
The Berenberg analysts said they also do not expect the company’s strategy to change meaningfully with his appointment as CEO, and investors will know him given an increased level of engagement in recent years, particularly following the Voisey’s Bay deal.
"Mr Bishop Lafleche is inheriting a business in strong shape with some meaningful commodity price and cost inflation protection tailwinds (note here) behind it."
Berenberg has a share price target of 180p and 'buy' recommendation. The shares eased 2% to 138p on the day, still up over 9% over 12 months.
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