centro faces executive shake-up ..., page-18

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Mr Rufrano is still working on a long-term strategy for
Centro, which he is not yet ready to reveal.



Centro hero going home
Nicole Lindsay
August 07, 2009 12:00am

CENTRO'S miracle worker Glenn Rufrano is planning to finish up as chief of the troubled shopping centre owner and manager by February.

Mr Rufrano is credited with saving Australia's second biggest shopping centre owner from collapse 20 months ago when the company could not refinance $3.9 billion in short-term debt.

"When I accepted the appointment, it was to see Centro through a very difficult period of uncertainty," he said.

But he said Centro needed a long-term chief prepared to stay for two to four years -- a commitment he could not make.

"I'm not in a position to do that ... for family requirements I have to move back to the US," he said.

Separately, Centro's Australian CEO Tony Clarke advised the board he would not be a candidate for Mr Rufrano's job. Nor would he extend his term beyond its expiry in February.

Centro chairman Paul Cooper said the new global CEO would do both jobs.

Centro has hired recruitment firm Egon Zehnder to look for a new global chief executive to be based in Melbourne under a three-year contract.

Mr Rufrano has spent the past 18 months restructuring Centro, which owns 790 malls in the US, Australia and New Zealand.

In January he negotiated a debt-for-equity swap that delayed repayment of a further $22 billion of debt.

Mr Rufrano said April last year was the darkest time in his two-year term when he had to negotiate two-week loan extensions with Centro's bankers in Australia and the US.

"That was the most difficult period, but we got through it," he said. "We had a number of dark months, but then all became bright."

Mr Rufrano is still working on a long-term strategy for Centro, which he is not yet ready to reveal.

He rejected claims that the demands of searching for a new executive would impact on getting his job done.

"We are working through a range of issues all the time. That is a continuing work in progress. But we do not want to put a complicated plan into the market," Mr Rufrano said.

He is willing to stay a little longer in the job if a new chief is not secured on schedule.

"I do not have a job. I'm not leaving to take another job. I do not have obligations anywhere else," he said.

But he is not looking at an empty future. Last month he took a spot on the board of bankrupt US company General Growth Properties.

Centro Properties' full-year results are due for release on August 26, the day after Centro Retail reports its results.

Centro Properties securities closed steady at 9.6 yesterday and Centro Retail was up 0.2 at 9.4.