RB Global Replaces CEO Fandozzi Amid Compensation Dispute, Sources Say

2023-08-02 17:59

RB Global Inc., formerly known as Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers Inc., is appointing a new chief executive officer to

RB Global Inc., formerly known as Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers Inc., is appointing a new chief executive officer to replace Ann Fandozzi following a dispute over issues including compensation, people familiar with the matter said.

Jim Kessler, RB Global’s chief operating officer and president, will take over as CEO and join the board of the industrial equipment auctioneer, the people said. The company, which has a market value of nearly $12 billion, may announce the move as soon as this week, according to the people.

RB Global is terminating Chief Financial Officer Eric Jacobs and will search for a replacement, the people said, asking not to be identified because the information is private. Jacobs said in a statement he didn’t resign and declined to comment further. A representative for RB Global declined to comment.

Fandozzi’s talks with the RB Global board over pay packages for her and the rest of the management team broke off following disagreements over details including the size and timing of their equity compensation, the people said.

Fandozzi said in a statement she hasn’t resigned from the CEO role. The RB Global board made commitments in November 2022, before the company’s takeover of IAA Inc., about the management team’s compensation structure, she said.

“It was only in the last few weeks that I was informed that the board was not going to honor those commitments,” Fandozzi said. She said she believed until recently that “negotiations were still being pursued in good faith in the hope that this matter could be brought to an amicable resolution.”

The company narrowly won shareholder approval this year for its $6 billion acquisition of IAA and invited activist investor Jeffrey Smith of Starboard Value to join its board. After shareholders voiced opposition to the IAA transaction last year, Fandozzi partnered with Starboard to get the deal over the line.

In March, proxy advisers Institutional Shareholder Services Inc. and Glass Lewis & Co. recommended that investors turn down the cash-and-stock transaction. The deal ended up being approved in a close vote.