Outgoing Scott Technology chief executive John Kippenberger. Photo / Supplied
Outgoing Scott Technology chief executive John Kippenberger. Photo / Supplied
Scott Technology’s chief executive and director John Kippenberger has had a career of streamlining companies to make them run better.
Now, he just wants to step back from corporate life.
At Scott - a robotics specialist 53.05 per cent-owned by Brazil’s JBS - Kippenberger embarked on a strategy of re-focusingthe company on what it does best.
Mid-way through last year, Scott hired Macquarie Capital to undertake a strategic review of its ownership structure.
JBS, the world’s biggest meat packing company, had been a big supporter of Scott, whose products are used in the meat and food processing industries.
“We went through a sale process last year, which they pulled back from for a number of reasons,” he said.
“But JBS have been nothing but supportive of me and the team.”
Streamlining was a similar theme during his time at Mānuka Health - New Zealand’s second biggest mānuka honey company - which was sold by its private equity owners to a South East Asian company in 2018.
Before that, Kippenberger headed up Beehive Bacon, in which he and family interests had a holding.
Kippenberger said the strategy of focusing on what companies do best had worked well at Scott.
“I’m a great believer in getting the strategy right.
“It does not need to be 100 per cent perfect, but get it 85 per cent right and get the organisation in behind it.
“Once you give people clarity and a sense of direction, encouragement and support, then the results can be very exciting.”
Scott had been through a number of acquisitions and it needed to undertake a clear strategy.
“For a mid-cap listed business, it did have a lot of moving parts, both in terms of some of the businesses that it had bought but also some of the projects that it got involved with that may not specifically have been in line with its expertise.”
The streamlining process involved choosing areas where Scott had strong, proven technology that was recognised in big markets around the world and selling product to them, rather than continuing as a bespoke design-and-build engineering company.
“We still invest in research and development, but we are selling the same technology that’s proven and that’s my view of how to scale a mid-sized company like this - by selling proven technology many times over.”
It was a similar story at Mānuka Health.
It needed a strategy to determine where it was going to win in some of the major markets around the world, and we grew that business very strongly.
“It’s been a good run, but I think there is an opportunity to sit back a bit now.”
“For me, it’s been a highly enjoyable experience but now is the time for me and my family to step back from a full-time CEO rule.”
Just days after announcing he was stepping down, the company’s chief financial officer Cameron Mathewson resigned to take up another CFO role.
Scott was at pains to say the two resignations were not related, and took the unusual step of updating the market before the company’s half-year result, which is due out on April 16.
Scott Technology's gear is used extensively in the meat and food processing industries. Photo / Supplied
A formal search process is under way for Kippenberger’s replacement and Aaron Vanwalleghem, Scott’s president of Europe and North America, has been named interim chief executive.
Chairman Stuart McLauchlan said Kippenberger had delayed his departure as CEO and director due to the CFO’s departure.
“We will work through with John over the next few days the details of an appropriate transition that is in the best interests of the Scott Group.
“I want to stress that the two resignations are completely unrelated and in no way signal that there are any matters that are of concern to the board with the Scott Group’s performance.
“It is simply an unfortunate coincidence that the two senior resignations came in the same week”.
McLauchlan said the business has been performing well during the period and it was expecting to announce double-digit growth at both the revenue and ebitda level.
Borrowing, depreciation and lease costs would be higher than for the same period last year due to the positive momentum of the Scott Group’s underlying growth and performance.
“The company continues to experience positive growth drivers across all core sectors,” he said.
Jamie Gray is an Auckland-based journalist, covering the financial markets and the primary sector. He joined the Herald in 2011.
