Durban - International packaging and paper group Mondi on Friday announced the appointment of US national Tanya D Fratto to its board of directors.
Fratto will assume the role of an independent non-executive director with effect from January 1.
Industry analysts saw the appointment of Fratto as a move to tap into her experience in the US, where Mondi has significant operations.
The group’s joint chairmen, David Williams and Fred Phaswana, commented: “The Mondi Group boards are delighted that Tanya D Fratto will be joining us. She brings wide experience in product innovation, sales and marketing, and engineering in a range of sectors. Tanya’s extensive knowledge of operating in the US will also benefit Mondi as we continue to grow our interests in line with our strategy.”
Mondi has operations in various parts of the world, including central Europe, Russia, North America and South Africa.
It has a primary listing on the JSE and a secondary listing on the London Stock Exchange.
Fratto will commence her duties at the beginning of next month and will serve on various committees in the group.
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Mish-al Emeran, an equity analyst at Electus Fund Managers, said the appointment of Fratto to the board could be because of her experience in the US market.
“I think the motivation would be to tap into her extensive experience and knowledge of operating in the US where she has worked for most of her career, which would be of specific benefit to Mondi’s US operations,” said Emeran.
The group reported an 8 percent increase in underlying operating profit to 529 million euros (R8 billion) for the six months to end June during the group’s interim results in August.
In October, the group announced that it had signed an agreement to acquire 100 percent of the outstanding share capital of Russian company Beepack from a private investor for a consideration of 41 million euros on a debt- and cash-free basis.