Fletcher Challenge New Board - Bio Details

NEW BOARD APPOINTMENTS ANNOUNCED

AUCKLAND, 31 January 2001 ¡V Fletcher Challenge today announced the directors for the three companies, Fletcher Building, Fletcher Challenge Forests, and Rubicon, that will become separate entities when the Group¡¦s separation process is completed in late March.

¡§I am delighted with the mix of experience, industry knowledge, global perspective, and innovation which we have been able to bring together to lead the three companies into the future¡¨, said Roderick Deane, Chairman of Fletcher Challenge. ¡§The Boards will consist of people who have specific international experience in related industries. This is particularly so for Rubicon where its focus is on the commercialisation of technology. In addition, we have been able to utilise the experience of the current Fletcher Challenge board ¡V one which has, over the past 12 months, delivered strongly on change and restructuring, and worked closely with management to implement these changes. Selective additional appointments are possible when the future shape of the three companies becomes clearer¡¨, he confirmed.

The proposed Directors are:

Fletcher Challenge Forests:
Chairman ¡V Sir Dryden Spring, currently chairman of WEL Energy and Ericsson Communications. He brings broad experience in a number of primary product export industries in New Zealand.

Other Board members ¡V
„h Rodger Fisher, currently chairman of the Civil Aviation Authority, and with experience in management in the New Zealand transport industry, as well as sports management
„h Stephen Hurley, founder and currently chairman of Xylem Investments, an international forestry investment company based in Boston (and a significant holder of Forests shares), and with experience in fund management
„h Warren Larsen, currently chief executive of the Dairy Board, and with a background in successful international primary resources marketing
„h Michael Andrews, currently chief executive of Fletcher Challenge, with an extensive background in New Zealand forestry, as well as experience in introducing innovation to the building and energy industries
„h Michael Walls, currently a business consultant, with a background in commercial law and banking
„h Terry McFadgen, chief executive of Fletcher Challenge Forests, with experience in the building industry and commercial law

Fletcher Building:
Chairman ¡V Roderick Deane, currently chairman of Fletcher Challenge and Telecom, and with a background in banking, economics and management.

Other Board members ¡V
„h Hugh Fletcher, with long experience in both the New Zealand and overseas building industry, as well as in international management during his time as chief executive of Fletcher Challenge
„h Kerrin Vautier, research economist and currently a part-time lecturer in commercial law, with experience in commercial regulation, as well as a range of directorships
„h Sir Dryden Spring, currently chairman of WEL Energy and Ericsson Communications. He has experience on the US-based policy council for international agriculture, food, and trade
„h Paul Baines, with investment and sharebroking experience, as well as a range of directorships
„h Michael Andrews, as an interim director during his time as interim chief executive of Fletcher Building. He brings experience in all aspects of the New Zealand building industry.

Rubicon:
Chairman ¡V Michael Andrews, currently chief executive of Fletcher Challenge, and one of the architects of much of the restructuring, including the formation of Rubicon as a facilitator and commercialiser of ideas and innovation.

Other Board members ¡V
„h Dr Jilly Evans, a Director of Pharmacology for Merck Sharp & Dohme in the US with responsibilities in research and international marketing. She is a New Zealander with proven success in the research, discovery and commercialisation of human health technology.
„h Hugh Fletcher, chief executive of Fletcher Challenge at the time of the Capstone investment, brings broad international business experience and relationships, and is currently involved in a government task force reviewing tertiary education and research.
„h Bill Hasler, US-based, whose experience includes heading a world-wide management consulting practice, currently Dean Emeritus of the University of California¡¦s (Berkeley) business school and co-CEO of a Nasdaq-listed biopharmaceuticals company.
„h Dr John Villiger, a New Zealander who co-founded a Nasdaq-listed biopharmaceuticals company, for which he leads product development world-wide and is managing director of its New Zealand operations.
„h Luke Moriarty, chief executive officer, with a strong background of international transactions including the restructuring of Fletcher Challenge Canada and the financial separation of the Fletcher Challenge Group, is an executive director

¡§It has been hugely exciting to discuss with people the contribution they can make to the vision and governance of Fletcher Building, Fletcher Challenge Forests or Rubicon¡¨, said Dr Deane. ¡§We have gathered three distinctive and challenging groups of individuals who will bring both highly relevant experience and new perspectives to the three companies once they become stand-alone entities towards the end of March¡¨, he said.

Documentation on the three companies, and on the proposed sale of the Energy Division to Shell and Apache will be sent to shareholders from mid-February.

Ends

Attached: - full biographical details of all directors (6 pages)

BACKGROUNDER

BOARD OF DIRECTORS
FLETCHER CHALLENGE FORESTS

SIR DRYDEN SPRING, Chairman
DSc (Hon)
Sir Dryden is Chairman of WEL Energy Group and Ericsson Communications NZ. He is deputy chairman of Goodman Fielder and a director of Fletcher Challenge Limited, Nufarm, the National Bank of New Zealand and Maersk New Zealand. Sir Dryden is Chairman of New Zealand¡¦s APEC Business Advisory Council, a trustee of the New Zealand Business and Parliament Trust, the Waikato Medical Research Foundation and the Asia 2000 Foundation. He is a distinguished Fellow of the Institute of Directors, and a member of the Washington-DC based International Policy Council on Agriculture, Food and Trade. Sir Dryden was chairman of the New Zealand Dairy Board from 1989 to 1998, having been a director since 1983. He has also served on the boards of the Rural Banking and Finance Corporation, Ports of Auckland and AFFCO New Zealand.

RODGER FISHER
FCIS
Mr Fisher practises as a business consultant. Prior to that he was the managing director of Owens Group Limited between 1987 and 1999. He is Chairman of the Civil Aviation Authority, the Aviation Security Service, and The Blues Franchise Limited. Mr Fisher is Deputy Chairman of WEL Energy Group Limited and a Director of the Auckland Rugby Football Union, the Eden Park Trust Board of Control and Waste Management (NZ) Limited. Mr Fisher is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Secretaries, the Chartered Institute of Transport, the Institute of Directors and the New Zealand Institute of Management.

STEPHEN HURLEY
BA, MBA (Hons) (Harvard)
Mr Hurley has been an investor in the global forest products industry for over 25 years. He is the Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive of Xylem Investments, Inc, an international forestry investment firm based in Boston, Massachusetts. Prior to founding Xylem Investments, Inc in 1994, Mr Hurley was Principal, Director and Investment Committee Member of Resource Investments, Inc (RII ¡V now known as UBS Brinson Resource Investments). Mr Hurley was previously a fund manager at Fidelity Investments, and prior to that he was a Vice President of JP Morgan Investment Management, Inc. Mr Hurley is a member of the Association of Investment Management and Research, the New York Society of Security Analysts and the New York Forest Products Analysts Group.

WARREN LARSEN
MAgSc (Hons), BBS, CA
Mr Larsen is the Chief Executive of New Zealand Dairy Board, having held that appointment since 1992. He previously managed New Zealand Dairy Board¡¦s Protein Division, until his appointment as Chief Executive in 1992. He was Chief Executive of Bay Milk Products until 1991, and received the New Zealand Dairy Industry Fellowship Award in 1985. Mr Larsen is a Director of PDL Holdings Limited and MPH (New Zealand) Limited.

MICHAEL ANDREWS
MNZIF
Mr Andrews is Chief Executive Officer of Fletcher Challenge and Interim Chief Executive of Fletcher Challenge Building. Prior to his appointment he was Divisional Chief Executive of Fletcher Challenge Energy, Fletcher Challenge Forests and Fletcher Challenge Paper. He was previously Chief Executive Officer of the Solid Wood Forestry Sector and of the former Energy and Resources Group. Mr Andrews joined Fletcher Timber in 1969, and has held senior management positions in a range of the Group¡¦s activities. He is Chairman of the New Zealand Wool Board Implementation Project Team.

MICHAEL WALLS
BA, LLB (VUW), LLM (London)
Mr Walls practises as a business consultant. He was previously the Managing Director, Investment Banking, for BZW New Zealand, and then for its successor, ABN AMRO New Zealand, from 1997 to 2000. Prior to that Mr Walls practised as a commercial lawyer at Chapman Tripp, where he was a partner from 1972 until 1996 specialising in mergers and acquisitions, international finance and corporate law. Mr Walls is a former Chairman of Directors of BHP NZ Steel Holdings Limited, and a former Chairman of Directors of the listed Independent Press Communications Limited (now Wilson & Horton Holdings Limited). In addition, he has been a Director of a number of unlisted companies. He is the Chairman of the Board of the New Zealand Institute of Economic Research, Inc.

TERRY McFADGEN
LLB (Hons) (Auckland), LLM (Harvard)
Mr McFadgen was appointed Chief Executive of Fletcher Challenge Forests in October 2000. He was previously Chief Executive of Fletcher Challenge Building, a position to which he was appointed in 1996. Mr McFadgen has held the positions of Commercial Director of the Construction and Property Division, Fletcher Challenge Limited, Chief Executive Officer of Jennings Group Limited and he also headed the Fletcher Challenge Group¡¦s Executive Offices Department. Mr McFadgen was, until 1990, a senior partner at Simpson Grierson in Auckland and has worked with international law firms in New York and London.

All of these directors, other than Sir Dryden Spring and Michael Andrews, each of whom is currently a director of Fletcher Challenge, will be appointed with effect from 17 April 2001.

BACKGROUNDER

BOARD OF DIRECTORS
FLETCHER BUILDING

DR R S DEANE, Chairman
PhD, LLD (Hon), BCom (Hons), FACA, FCIS, FNZIM
Dr Roderick Deane, 59, is Chairman of Telecom New Zealand, having retired as Chief Executive of that company in 1999. He is also Chairman of ANZ Banking Group (NZ), Te Papa Tongarewa (the Museum of New Zealand), New Zealand Seed Fund Management and New Zealand Seed Fund Partnership. Dr Deane is a director of TransAlta Corporation (of Canada), Australia and New Zealand Banking Group and Woolworths (both Australian companies) and eVentures New Zealand. He is Professor of Economics and Management at Victoria University of Wellington and is on the Board of Governance of IHC Inc. Dr Deane has previously been Chief Executive of the Electricity Corporation of New Zealand, Chairman of the State Service Commission, Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand, and Alternate Executive Director of the International Monetary Fund.

H A FLETCHER
MCom (Hons), MBA (Stanford), BSc
Hugh Fletcher, 52, was Chief Executive Officer of Fletcher Challenge from 1987 until his retirement on 14 December 1997. Prior to that, from 1981, he was Group Managing Director, responsible for New Zealand-headquartered activities. Mr Fletcher was a Director of Fletcher Holdings from 1976, having joined the company in 1969. He was Chief Executive Officer of Fletcher Holdings at the time of the merger which created Fletcher Challenge in 1981. Mr Fletcher is Chairman of New Zealand Insurance and CGU Insurance Australia, a Director of Willson Brown, a member of the Asia Pacific Advisory Committee of the New York Stock Exchange, The Trilateral Commission¡¦s Asia Pacific Group, the Business Advisory Council of the United Nations Office for Project Services, the Tertiary Education Advisory Commission, Infrastructure Auckland and the University of Auckland Council.

K M VAUTIER
CMG, BA
Kerrin Vautier, 55, is a research economist specialising in competition law and economics. She is Chairman of the New Zealand Committee of the Pacific Economic Co-operation Council (NZPECC), a Director of Norwich Union Holdings (NZ) and its subsidiary, State Insurance, Wilson & Horton Holdings and Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu (NZ), a member of the Board of Trustees of Asia 2000 Foundation and a senior part-time lecturer in the Department of Commercial Law at the University of Auckland. She is a former member of the New Zealand Commerce Commission and was Chairman of the New Zealand Institute of Economic Research from 1992-1998.

SIR DRYDEN SPRING
DSc (Hons)
Sir Dryden, 60, is Chairman of WEL Energy Group and Ericsson Communications. He is Deputy Chairman of Goodman Fielder and a Director of Nufarm, the National Bank of New Zealand, Ericsson Synergy and Maersk New Zealand. Sir Dryden is a member of the New Zealand Business and Parliament Trust, the Waikato Medical Research Foundation and the Asia 2000 Foundation. He is a Distinguished Fellow of the Institute of Directors and a member of the Washington DC based International Policy Council on Agriculture, Food and Trade. Sir Dryden was Chairman of the New Zealand Dairy Board from 1989 to 1998, having been a Director since 1983. He has also served on the Boards of the Rural Banking and Finance Corporation, Ports of Auckland and AFFCO New Zealand.

P E A BAINES
BCA, CA, MPP
Paul Baines, 50, is Chairman of Tower Managed Funds and a Director of Comalco New Zealand, Gough, Gough and Hamer, Greenstone Fund, New Zealand Post, South Eastern Utilities, the Reserve Bank of New Zealand, Telecom New Zealand and Wrightson. He was Chief Executive Officer of CS First Boston New Zealand from 1990 until 1993. Prior to that, he held a number of senior positions in the sharebroking and investment banking firm of Jarden & Co.

M J ANDREWS, Interim Executive Director and Interim Chief Executive Officer ¡V Fletcher Building
MNZIF
Michael Andrews, 61, is Chief Executive Officer of Fletcher Challenge. He is also currently Interim Chief Executive of Fletcher Challenge Building. Prior to that, he was Divisional Chief Executive of Fletcher Challenge Energy, Fletcher Challenge Forests and Fletcher Challenge Paper, and was previously Chief Executive Officer of the Solid Wood Forestry Sector and before that of the former Energy and Resources Group. Mr Andrews joined Fletcher Timber in 1969, and has held senior management positions in a range of the Group¡¦s activities. He is Chairman of the New Zealand Wool Board Implementation Project Team.

All of these directors, other than Roderick Deane and Michael Andrews, each of whom is already a director of Fletcher Building, will be appointed with effect from the implementation of the separation transactions.

Further directors of Fletcher Building may be appointed following the Effective Date.

BACKGROUNDER

BOARD OF DIRECTORS
RUBICON

MICHAEL ANDREWS, Chairman
MNZIF
Over the past 20 years, Michael has developed strong, positive relationships with executives and leading government figures in Europe, North America, South America, and the Asia-Pacific. His success is demonstrated in his record of achievements over the past 15 years. Highlights are the reinvention of Fletcher Challenge¡¦s Building Materials and Rural Sectors in the 1980s, and the Energy Sector in the early 1990s. It was the latter thinking that lead to the Capstone initiative and the creation, through Methanex, of the world¡¦s leading methanol company. More recently, he was responsible for the reinvention of the forestry business, including the move into forestry genetics from which ArborGen evolved. Most recently, Michael has been CEO of Fletcher Challenge Limited and has overseen the complex separation of the Group.

DR JILLY EVANS
PhD University of British Columbia, MSc (Honours) and BSc University of Auckland
A leading scientist with the parent company of Merck Sharp & Dohme (NZ) Ltd, Jilly brings to Rubicon a strong background of success in the discovery and commercialisation of pharmaceutical drugs. Following her MSc (1st Class Honours) in Cell Biology from Auckland and post-doctoral studies in biochemistry at McGill University (Montreal), Jilly joined Merck Frosst Canada in 1983, where she was a member of the highly successful development teams working on human health drugs in the areas of arthritis and asthma treatment. She moved to Merck West Point Pennsylvania in 1998 to become a director in the Health Genetic¡¦s department focusing on the identifying key protein receptors to target with drugs. Jilly is now a Director in the Department of Pharmacology at Merck West Point, and is involved in both basic drug research and international marketing activities. The group with which she is working in 1999 achieved a breakthrough in identifying the target for one of the anti-asthma drugs under development. In 2000 the group of which she was a part achieved a step change in research targeting heart disease receptors. Jilly is also active in science promotion in NZ and overseas, and in academia. She was Adjunct Professor, Department of Biochemistry, at McGill University from 1992-1998, and has published numerous research papers in international science journals and literature.

HUGH FLETCHER
MBA Stanford University, MCom (Honours) and BSc University of Auckland
Hugh Fletcher is chairman of CGNU Australia Holdings Limited and New Zealand Insurance Limited, and a director of Infrastructure Auckland and Fletcher Challenge Limited. He is also a member of the Council of the University of Auckland, the Asia Pacific Advisory Panel Committee of the New York Stock Exchange, the Business Advisory Council of the United Nations Office for Project Services, and the Asia Pacific Committee of the Trilateral Commission. He has recently headed a government task force investigating regulation in New Zealand¡¦s telecommunication industry, and is currently on another enquiry into tertiary education and research. Hugh has broad pastoral farming interests. His executive experience includes six years as Managing Director and Chief Operating Officer of Fletcher Challenge Limited, before he became Chief Executive Officer from 1987 to 1997. During this time he worked to internationalise the company, growing it to be the most significant New Zealand-based conglomerate. During this time he was also Chairman of Air New Zealand.

WILLIAM (BILL) HASLER
MBA Harvard; BA Pomona College (California), CPA
Bill Hasler is former Vice Chairman & Board Director of KPMG Peat Marwick, a position he held from 1984 ¡V 1991 after being responsible for KPMG¡¦s western US operations from 1984 ¡V 1986, and subsequently heading their worldwide management consulting practice 1986 ¡V 1991. Upon leaving KPMG, Bill became Dean & Departmental Chair of the Haas School of Business at the University of California in Berkeley. He held this position from 1991 ¡V 1998, and continues today as Dean Emeritus. Concurrent with his role at Haas, Bill is also Co-CEO of Aphton Corporation, a public-listed biopharmaceuticals company based in San Francisco and listed on the Nasdaq National Board. He has been a Director of that company since 1991 and was elected Vice Chairman in 1996. In addition, Bill is an active director on many boards, including being a Trustee of Schwab Funds. He is also a consultant to, and investor in, several private technology companies.

DR JOHN VILLIGER
PhD University of Otago and University of Florida
John is currently Head of Product Development Worldwide, and Managing Director NZ of The Medicines Company, a Boston-based company which listed on the Nasdaq in August 2000, which has grown from four staff and US$2 million seed capital, to a publicly listed company with 75 staff and a capitalisation of US$500 million. The Medicines Company acquires, develops and commercialises biopharmaceutical products in late stages of development. The company¡¦s lead product, Angiomax, directly blocks the actions of a key component in the formation and growth of blood clots, and is currently marketed in New Zealand and the US.

John had previously held various positions in product development at Hoffmann-La Roche, including Head of Global Project Management and International Project Director. John was responsible for overseeing the development of Hoffmann-La Roche¡¦s global pharmaceutical portfolio, with management responsibility for over 50 development programs. Prior to this, John was Medical Director at Roche Products NZ.

LUKE MORIARTY
MS Stanford University; LLB (Hons) and BCA Victoria University
Luke brings to Rubicon a strong background to business and commercial transactions, both in New Zealand and North America. His financial experience has included extensive international business valuation, acquisition, divestment and joint venture analysis, and structuring and execution in multi-billion dollar transactions - ranging from minority buy-outs to trade sales and IPOs. He has held a number of senior commercial and finance roles and has led projects that have spanned all of Fletcher Challenge¡¦s Divisions. He spent several years in North America, and while there, led the financial restructuring of Fletcher Challenge Canada, with the sale of TimberWest Forests and Blandin Paper Company. He went on to attend Stanford University in California, and on his return to New Zealand in 1999, he joined the Fletcher Challenge Executive Office as Head of Strategy and Growth. His role has included the provision of strategic advice around capital structure issues and in 2000, Luke was instrumental in the structuring of the financial separation of the Fletcher Challenge Group.
All of these directors, other than Michael Andrews and Luke Moriarty, each of whom is already a director of Rubicon, will be appointed with effect from the implementation of the separation transactions.

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