Richard Elman, the founder of Noble Group, will not take up a previously announced position as an executive director in the restructured company.
The news of his change of mind was confirmed in a regulatory filing to the Singapore Exchange, which cited “personal reasons” for the decision.
“The company has now been informed that Mr Elman has decided that for personal reasons he will not be taking up the appointment as executive director of New Noble as previously envisaged,” the company said.
“Further details of the members of the board of New Noble, once identified and finalised, will be announced prior to the restructuring effective date.”
Noble added that it wanted to “thank Mr Elman and acknowledge his immense contribution in founding and leading the company which during its history became the largest commodities company in Asia”, and what it described as a “platform for the careers of thousands of people in the industry”.
Elman is Noble’s former chairman and controls nearly 18% of the equity in the current Singapore-listed company.
In April, he backed a proposed $3.5bn debt-to-equity swap that would restructure the company after it improved the terms and announced a board seat for him in the new firm.
His backing occurred less than a month after he resigned from Noble’s board, citing “amicable differences” with the board and a group of senior creditors negotiating the restructuring.
Noble is set for a make or break vote on its restructuring on 27 August 2018.
However, it has already won support from 86% of its senior creditors and about 30% of its shareholders, including Elman, have committed to back the proposed restructuring.
Once Asia’s largest commodity trader, Noble has shrunk its business after selling billions of dollars of assets, taking hefty writedowns and cutting hundreds of jobs.
