Ann: Appointment of new Chief Executive Officer, page-6

and if you believe Alan Kohler last night, it was a big shock to Steven Sewell too:

from Sydney Morning Herald today: more eveidence that the whole thing was a Novion reverse takeover to get our juicy earnings per share to prop up their rubbish one. I am still waiting, Steven, to hear the 'compelling case' for the merger.

Retail landlord Federation Centres has surprised the market with the appointment of former Novion Property's Angus McNaughton as the new chief executive, to replace Steven Sewell, effective immediately.
Federation went into a trading halt on Monday morning, announcing Mr Sewell "ceases his role as CEO and as a director by agreement, following the successful completion of the merger transaction between Federation Centres and Novion Property Group in June this year".
Chairman of Federation Centres, Peter Hay said "Steven was a driving force behind the merger to create a company that has a $22 billion asset base with scale that will allow it to achieve significant synergy and strategic benefits."
Steven Sewell will be replaced as CEO, effective immediately.
Steven Sewell will be replaced as CEO, effective immediately. Photo: Josh Robenstone
"The board has made the decision to change the CEO role and offered it to Angus," Mr Hay said.
"The board has given due consideration to the style of leadership for the merged entity going forward and the decision was unanimous.
"We are not keeping secrets from investors and shareholders and there is nothing untoward in the decision. Steven leaves with our best wishes."
Mr Hay added that the board have been looking at the future leadership "style" that was required and interrupted Mr McNaughton on his recent holiday.
"We reached out to Angus when we heard he was available and the board informed Steven of its decision this morning," Mr Hay said.
"We looked at Angus's record where he has had a long career running a major property company, at CFS Retail [now Novion] and we felt he has a high performance of getting the best out of people."
Mr Sewell joined Federation in 2012 when it was still Centro Properties and in the past three years has undertaken a significant restructure of the retail landlord's balance sheet, assets and changed its name.
Prior to joining Federation, Mr Sewell was the chairman of the Shopping Centre Council of Australia, and led Charter Hall Retail REIT for five years, after stints at Macquarie Group and QIC Property in Brisbane.
He was also an architect of the merger with Novion to create the second biggest listed retail real estate investment trust in the country, with assets under management of $22 billion. These include Chadstone shopping centre in Melbourne, which is undergoing a $600 million redevelopment, the Emporium and Chatswood Chase in Sydney. Federation also co-owns The Glen in Melbourne, which is being upgraded, but is mainly a food-anchored mall portfolio.
Federation, which merged with Novion Property in June, has been run by Mr Sewell, who was appointed CEO when the merger was first announced in early 2014.
He said last month the merged group intended to change the name to Vicinity Centres, if approved by shareholders at the October annual general meeting.
Vicinity has a $2.5 billion redevelopment pipeline and will be a direct competitor in the market for investment capital with the $21 billion Scentre Group, which was spun out of the Westfield last year.
In a statement to the ASX, Mr Sewell said "the planning for the merger has been a long journey. We saw the potential many years ago of combining these groups. We had to make sure there was a compelling case for investors and they saw the immediate benefits and the future potential".
Mr McNaughton, a property stalwart, originally from New Zealand, ran Colonial First State property and became the CEO of Novion in 2014 after the Commonwealth Bank sold the management rights and led Novion to self-management.
Mr McNaughton said: "I am delighted to have the opportunity to lead the experienced and strong leadership team in managing the business and assets at a point where there is so much potential. We will continue to deliver the synergies from the merger and build strong partnerships with our retailers and other stakeholders to create a stable, sustainable portfolio that delivers strong returns for our securityholders."
Last week Federation appointed Richard Jamieson as the new chief financial officer, which was the same role he had at Novion.
Federation also announced that is has entered into a conditional agreement to sell the Queensland convenience centre Lutwyche City to Abacus Property Group and Zenonos Group for $65 million.
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/business/prop...mmediately-20150803-giq72s.html#ixzz3hnlD9B57