Louis Dreyfus Commodities picked its Asia head to lead the global grain trading group, it said on Friday, after a long search for a chief executive as it seeks to end a corporate shakeup at the family-owned business. The appointment of Gonzalo Ramirez Martiarena, 48, comes after a previous appointment of Mayo Schmidt, former head of Canada's Viterra, fell through in December.
Louis Dreyfus, which dominates agricultural commodity trading alongside Archer Daniels Midland, Bunge and Cargill, had been looking for a new CEO since Ciro Echesortu, who had taken over less than a year earlier from long-serving chief Serge Schoen, left the role in April 2014. Controlling shareholder Margarita Louis-Dreyfus, who has chaired Louis Dreyfus Holding, will become non-executive chairperson of the supervisory board, succeeding Schoen, who will become her deputy, the company said. It said the changes are effective from October 1. Margarita Louis-Dreyfus has led a transition at the 164-year-old firm as it tries to compete in a consolidating agricultural commodity sector that has attracted big investments from the likes of Glencore and China's state-owned COFCO.
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