Rio Tinto, the world's second-largest mining company, appointed three former senior managers from the energy industry to its board as non-executive directors, including Royal Dutch Shell Plc's (NYSE: RDS.A) departing CFO Simon Henry, the company said Feb. 10.
Henry, who is stepping down as CFO at Shell after seven years on March 9, will join Rio Tinto on July 1. Former Centrica CEO Sam Laidlaw and ex-Sasol CEO David Constable will take up their non-executive posts immediately, Rio Tinto said.
"With diverse expertise across successful international engineering, resources and financial businesses, I have no doubt that their insight and hands-on experience will strengthen the board," Rio Tinto Chairman Jan du Plessis said.
RELATED: Shell: Jessica Uhl To Replace CFO Simon Henry In March
Non-executive directors Anne Lauvergeon, the former CEO of French nuclear reactor maker Areva, and Robert Brown will step down from their roles at the company's annual general meeting on May 4.
Rio Tinto is emerging from a deep market downturn, during which time it shed assets to repair its balance sheet.
The company declined to comment further on the appointments, which will add significant energy industry expertise to its board.
"I think you're bringing on someone like Simon Henry who's got a wealth of experience across the [oil and gas] space," Jamie Campbell, head of natural resources at Panmure Gordon, said. "But I just can't see Rio going from zero to 100 in the energy sector in this environment."
In 2016, incoming CEO Jean-Sebastien Jacques said he was not interested in expanding Rio Tinto into the oil and gas industry.
Henry, who has worked at Shell for 34 years, will hand over the CFO role to Jessica Uhl on March 9 and leave Shell on June 30.
"Royal Dutch Shell confirms that Simon Henry, CFO of the company, has been appointed a non-executive director of Rio Tinto with effect from July 1, 2017," Shell said in a statement on Feb. 10.
Henry was one of the driving forces behind Shell's bumper $54 billion acquisition of BG Group in 2016.
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