Michael Craig Norgate (14 April 1965 – 7 July 2015) was a

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

accountant and business leader in agricultural processing, marketing and related areas. He had a career as

chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

(CEO) of dairy companies Kiwi Co-operative Dairies and Fonterra Co-operative Group, before consolidating the rural servicing industry through PGG Wrightson. His attempt to drive similar changes in the

meat industry The meat industry are the people and companies engaged in modern industrialized livestock agriculture for the production, packing, preservation and marketing of meat (in contrast to dairy products, wool, etc.). In economics, the meat industry is ...

coincided with the

2008 financial crisis The 2008 financial crisis, also known as the global financial crisis (GFC), was a major worldwide financial crisis centered in the United States. The causes of the 2008 crisis included excessive speculation on housing values by both homeowners ...

and resulted in significant losses both for PGG Wrightson and his own private equity company.

Biography

Norgate was born in

Hāwera Hāwera is the second-largest centre in the Taranaki region of New Zealand's North Island, with a population of . It is near the coast of the South Taranaki Bight. The origins of the town lie in a government military base that was establishe ...

in 1965. He received his tertiary education at

Massey University Massey University () is a Public university, public research university in New Zealand that provides internal and distance education. The university has campuses in Auckland, Palmerston North, and Wellington. Data from Universities New Zealand ...

. His work life started when he took up a management role with the

Department of Maori Affairs Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...

at age 21. Norgate had 15 years experience as a leader in the New Zealand dairy industry. He became GM of Kiwi Co-operative Dairies Ltd in 1991 and CEO at the age of 29 in 1994. In his time at the helm, Kiwi grew from a turnover of $285 million to $4.4b. In 1996 Kiwi Co-op took control of Mainland Products with a 66% share and lifted that share to 83% in a merger with Otago Co-op in 1998. Kiwi Co-op merged with New Zealand Dairy Group to form Fonterra, one of New Zealand's largest companies, in 2001 and Norgate was chosen as inaugural CEO of Fonterra for two years. He was New Zealand's first CEO on a million dollar salary. Fonterra bought the remaining 17 percent of Mainland from the McConnon family. Norgate's two-year contract with Fonterra was not renewed in 2003 and a few weeks later in August he and the McConnon family formed Rural Portfolio Investments (RPI), with Norgate as managing director. Norgate was to receive a

NZ$ The New Zealand dollar (; currency sign, sign: $; ISO 4217, code: NZD) is the official currency and legal tender of New Zealand, the Cook Islands, Niue, the Ross Dependency, Tokelau, and a British territory, the Pitcairn Islands. Within New Zeal ...

500,000 per annum management fee, plus expenses, for five years. In September, RPI bid for shares in Wrightson and built their stake up to 50.01 percent following a hostile takeover in 2004. Wrightson took over the number 3 player

Williams & Kettle Williams & Kettle Limited with headquarters in Napier, New Zealand, owned a stock and station agent, stock and station agency business and a general merchants business with branches throughout the east coast of the North Island of New Zealand. In ...

a few months later and then merged with Pyne Gould Guinness in 2005 to form PGG Wrightson, with RPI's stake at 30 percent. Norgate became deputy chairman of PGG Wrightson in 2006, shortly after it had established NZ Farming Systems Uruguay, and became chairman in 2007. In June 2008, PGG Wrightson made an unconditional offer to buy half of

Silver Fern Farms Silver Fern Farms Limited is a New Zealand multinational meat company. It is owned in equal partnership by Silver Fern Farms Co-op Ltd, a cooperative of 16,000 New Zealand sheep, cattle and deer farmers, and Shanghai Maling Aquarius Ltd. The co ...

for NZ$220 million, but in September was unable to complete the equity raising required to finance the offer and defaulted. It had to pay $42 million in compensation to Silver Fern and wrote off a total of $50 million for the compensation and due diligence costs. Norgate resigned as chairman of PGG Wrightson in 2009. In 2010 Rural Portfolio Investments went into receivership. Norgate was a director of

Port Taranaki Port Taranaki is a port complex located in New Plymouth, New Zealand. It is the only deep water port on the west coast of New Zealand, and is owned by the Taranaki Regional Council. The port handles a wide range of coastal and international ...

, Sealord Group, the Taranaki Rugby Union, and the CEO of the New Zealand Institute of Chartered Accountants. Among his many former governance roles, he was also the inaugural President of the NZ US Council. He graduated from

and was married with three adult children; Dylan, Jordan and Alexandria. In 2005, Norgate won ‘’The New Zealand Herald'' Business Leader of the Year award and in 2008 received the World Class New Zealander award for business and finance. Norgate died in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

on 7 July 2015. The case was referred to the coroner.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Norgate, Craig 1965 births 2015 deaths Massey University alumni New Zealand accountants New Zealand chief executives People from Hāwera 20th-century New Zealand businesspeople 21st-century New Zealand businesspeople Fonterra people