Background
Norgate was born in Hawera in 1965.
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Craig Norgate
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He had a career as chief executive officer (Chief Executive Officer) of dairy companies Kiwi Company-operative Dairies and Fonterra Company-operative Group, before consolidating the rural servicing industry through PGG Wrightson. His attempt to drive similar changes in the meat industry coincided with the advent of the global financial crisis and resulted in significant losses both for PGG Wrightson and his own private equity company. He received his tertiary education at Massey University.
His work life started when he took up a management role with the Department of Maori Affairs at age 21.
Norgate had 15 years experience as a leader in the New Zealand dairy industry. He became General Motors of Kiwi Company-operative Dairies Limited in 1991 and Chief Executive Officer 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 Company-op took control of Mainland Products with a 66% share and lifted that share to 83% in a merger with Otago Company-op in 1998.
Kiwi Company-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 Chief Executive Officer of Fonterra for two years.
He was New Zealand"s first Chief Executive Officer 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 New Zealand$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 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 New Zealand Farming Systems Uruguay, and became chairman in 2007. In June 2008, PGG Wrightson made an unconditional offer to buy half of Silver Fern Farms for New Zealand$220 million, but in September was unable to complete the equity raising required to finance the offer and defaulted.
lieutenant 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 Portuguese Taranaki, Sealord Group, the Taranaki Rugby Union and the currently the Chief Executive Officer of New Zealand Institute of Chartered Accountants.
Among his many former governance roles, he was also the inaugural President of the New Zealand United States Council.
Norgate died in the United Kingdom on 7 July 2015. The reason for his death is as yet unknown, and the case has been referred to the coroner.
