The CEO and COO of ailing US poultry giant Pilgrim’s Pride have resigned just days after the company entered Chapter 11.
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Pilgrim’s Pride, which earlier this month filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, said that CEO Clint Rivers and COO Robert Wright both resigned as part of the company’s reorganisation process.
In replacement, Pilgrim’s Pride has now appointed Don Jackson as president and CEO, subject to approval by the US Bankruptcy Court for Texas.
The board has also appointed Lonnie Ken Pilgrim, its current chairman, as interim president until Jackson’s employment is approved.
Prior to accepting his position with Pilgrim’s Pride, Jackson served as president of Foster Farms’ poultry division. He will assume the combined duties of Rivers and Wright.
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By GlobalData“As Pilgrim’s Pride begins the reorganisation process, we believe the company and its stakeholders would be best served by a fresh perspective on the opportunities available to us through restructuring,” Lonnie Pilgrim, the company’s senior chairman, said yesterday (16 December).
“Don Jackson is a proven leader with the essential skills and industry insight to position Pilgrim’s Pride to emerge from Chapter 11 as a stronger, more efficient, and more focused company.”
Pilgrim’s Pride filed voluntary Chapter 11 petitions on 1 December to address “short-term operational and liquidity challenges”.
The company’s profits have been hit by soaring feed costs and weak poultry prices in recent months. The company’s high level of indebtedness, primarily the result of its takeover of Gold Kist last year, also proved problematic amid turmoil in the credit markets.
