Peter Springford

Biography

Peter joined the Nuplex Board in 2009 and became Chairman in December 2013. Peter is a member of the Human Resources, Safety, Health & Environment, Audit and Nominations Committees. Peter has extensive experience in managing companies in Australia, New Zealand and Asia. For five years, Peter was the Hong Kong-based President of IP Asia, a subsidiary of major US-listed forestry company, International Paper. During this time, Peter built a US$500 million business for IP through the development of three greenfield plants in China, joint ventures in Japan, Korea, India, Taiwan and the Philippines and acquisitions within the region. On returning to New Zealand in 2002, Peter was Chief Executive Officer of listed forest products company, Carter Holt Harvey (CHH). Following the acquisition of CHH by Rank Group in 2006, Peter co-invested with CVC Capital Partners, an international private equity firm, in the purchase of Carter Holt Harvey’s Chinese panels business.

Research Interest

Nuplex Industries Limited was a global manufacturer and distributor of resins used in decorative paints and industrial and performance coatings with operations in Europe, Asia, the Americas, Australia and New Zealand. They were a publicly listed company on the NZX50 index in New Zealand. They were founded in 1952, and were initially a distribution company for flooring products. As of 2015, they employed over 1700 staff across 25 countries.