(Reuters) - Australian building materials giant James Hardie (NYSE:JHX) Industries Plc said on Thursday it was in the final stages of selecting a new chief executive officer and expects to appoint one in the next 30 days.
The world's No. 1 maker of fibre cement products has been looking for a new CEO since January when it fired Jack Truong after dozens of top executives threatened to quit over his management style.
The company had said that Truong's work-related interactions with up to 50 employees "extensively and materially breached" its code of conduct, claims that Truong has rejected.
"The (CEO) search has identified multiple excellent candidates and we are in the final stages of the selection and appointment process," said Anne Lloyd, who was on Thursday picked to succeed outgoing Chairperson Michael Hammes.
Hammes, who was elected as an independent non-executive director in February 2007 and named board chairman in January 2008, will retire in November, James Hardie said.
It also appointed Peter-John Davis, former chief operating officer at conglomerate Wesfarmers' Bunnings Australia & New Zealand business, as a non-executive director, and said it would add two more board members in the next six months.