Rentokil appoints Mike Duffy as CEO

(Sharecast News) - Rentokil Initial said on Tuesday that it has appointed Mike Duffy as chief executive and an executive director with effect from 16 March. He will join the company on 16 February as CEO designate. Duffy succeeds Andy Ransom, who will step down as CEO on 16 March and will continue to work with the group to ensure a smooth transition ahead of the annual general meeting in May.

US citizen Duffy is currently CEO of OnTrac, an American logistics company specialising in residential last-mile deliveries for e-commerce and direct-to-consumer brands.

Prior to this he was the CEO of FleetPride, the largest independent B2B distributor of parts and a full-service provider for the US heavy-duty truck industry. Both OnTrac and FleetPride are owned by US private equity firm American Securities LLC.

Chair Richard Solomons said: "We are delighted to announce Mike as our new chief executive. He is a successful business leader with a deep understanding of multi-site and route-based operations and customer acquisition strategies. He has a proven track record of delivering profitable growth and transforming businesses and has the right skills and capabilities to enable Rentokil Initial to realise its full potential over the coming years.

"On behalf of the board, I want to express our gratitude to Andy for his enormous contributions and commitment to the company for 18 years and especially during his successful tenure as CEO, steering Rentokil Initial to become one of the world's leading services businesses. We wish him all the very best for the future."

At 1405 GMT, the shares were down 3.5% at 457p.

Dan Coatsworth, head of markets at AJ Bell, said: "After a long search, Rentokil has finally found a new CEO. Mike Duffy has experience running companies with hundreds of locations spread across a large area, as well as business transformation, which is a good fit for Rentokil.

"He's also based in the US, which has been a problematic region for Rentokil and a region the company needs to get right given it spent $6.7 billion four years ago on a major US acquisition.

"Duffy's skills are certainly relevant, and he joins at an interesting time for the company, given turnaround efforts are well underway.

"The lacklustre market reaction to his appointment might simply reflect Duffy's position as an unknown name to many investors, particularly in the UK."