Arrium Names Roberts to Succeed Plummer as Chief Executive

Arrium Ltd., Australia’s second- largest steel prodcer, promoted Andrew Roberts, 46, the head its mining consumables unit, to succeed Geoff Plummer as chief executive officer.

Roberts will join the company’s board of directors immediately as deputy managing director and is expected to take up the chief executive’s role in the first quarter of fiscal 2014, Sydney-based Arrium said today in a statement.

Arrium last year rebuffed a A$1.2 billion ($1.24 billion) takeover bid from a Noble Group Ltd. and Posco-led consortium, The company, which has a market value of A$1.7 billion, relied on iron ore sales for more than half its earnings in the year ended June 30 last year.

To contact the reporter on this story: Soraya Permatasari in Melbourne at soraya@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Jason Rogers at jrogers73@bloomberg.net; Andrew Hobbs at ahobbs4@bloomberg.net