South African pulp and paper producer Sappi on Monday announced that Jonathan Leslie, currently Chief Executive of the Diamonds and Gold Group of Rio Tinto plc, will join the group in April this year as Chief Executive Officer.
The much awaited announcement comes after several months of searching for a
candidate to replace Eugene Van As, who is due to retire as CEO later this year. He will remain as non-executive chairman of the group.
At that time Sappi will split the roles of Chairman and Chief Executive.
Sappi said in a statement that Leslie is a businessman with a great deal of international experience, and has had a highly successful career at Rio Tinto where he has been responsible for a wide range of corporate activities, including the Rossing Uranium mine in Namibia, the Copper Group and, more recently, the Diamonds and Gold Group.
He has lived and worked in many countries of the world and is familiar with managing an operation with diverse cultures. He and his wife will relocate to Johannesburg from London.
Sappi announced about a year ago that it intended splitting the role of chairman and chief executive, when van As, the current executive chairman, retires, and that it was conducting a global search for a new chief executive. I-Net Bridge