Synlait Milk CEO Grant Watson has resigned with immediate effect after two years and nine months in the job.
The head of subsidiary Dairyworks, Tim Carter, has been appointed as acting chief executive.
The newly restructured Synlait team said Watson had overseen the company through an unprecedented era in its history.
The dairy company has been through a series of measures aimed at shoring up its balance sheet, the last one resulting in China’s Bright Dairy gaining a majority interest in the company.
“Recent months have seen a long list of urgent challenges for Synlait, and Grant’s ably led the team through them,” chair George Adams said.
“His achievements are extensive and notably include our balance sheet’s recent, successful reset.”
Watson said in a statement it had been an honour to lead Synlait and he wished the company the best for the future.
Adams said Watson’s tenure had included resetting Synlait’s strategy to reduce customer and market concentration risk, and commercialising plant-based production at Pōkeno and its foodservice business in Canterbury.
The company said it had also extended its reach into South East Asia and maintained its China market access.
