Alcan’s Bougie bushed, packs it in

Jacques Bougie, president and chief executive officer of Alcan Aluminium (AL-T) for the past seven years, has abruptly resigned, citing a desire to step off “the treadmill.”

The surprise announcement comes just months after the company’s acquisition of Swiss aluminum major Alusuisse Lonza Group (or Algroup) — a deal that created the “new” Alcan, which, with a US$12.4-billion market capitalization, is second only to U.S.-based Alcoa (AA-N) in size among global aluminum producers.

Bougie, 53, says his resignation is not related to last year’s failed 3-way merger between Alcan, Algroup and France’s Pechiney, which was blocked by the European Union’s anti-trust regulators; nor, he adds, is he running for political office. Rather, his intention is to take a “sabbatical” from the corporate world and spend more time with his family.

“The moment you start having doubts about your willingness to perform at [high] levels for very long periods . . . then you have to let go,” he says.

Pensiveness over the Christmas holidays may have been a factor: Bougie’s news coincided with the sudden resignation of Quebec’s separatist premier, Lucien Bouchard, who also cited personal reasons for packing it in.

Bougie was widely credited with playing a central role in restoring Alcan’s financial strength and narrowing its focus on aluminum production and manufacturing.

Alcan Director William Blundell, 73, will serve as interim president and CEO until a replacement is found within the next six months, while Bougie retreats to an advisory role.

Possible replacements

Among those considered candidates to replace Bougie are the heads of Alcan’s four global business units: Emery LeBlanc at the Montreal-based Primary Metal group; Brian Sturgell at the Cleveland, Ohio-based Aluminum Fabrication (Americas and Asia) group; Richard Evans at the Zurich-based Aluminum Fabrication (Europe) group; and Henk van de Meent at the Zurich-based Global Packaging unit.

Alcan’s share price fell several percentage points on the news of Bougie’s departure, but then so did Alcoa’s.

In December 2000, Alcan issued a fourth-quarter profit warning, blaming a slowing U.S. economy, a weak euro and higher-than-expected merger costs. The company estimates that earnings per share for the quarter are between US50 and US55 per share before amortization of goodwill and depreciation on asset revaluation and other special items.

Ongoing goodwill amortization is now estimated at US$140 million per year, or US11 per share for the quarter. Other special items during the quarter include a one-time charge of US13 per share, attributable to the closure of foil operations at Rogerstone in Britain and inventory adjustments arising from the Algroup merger.

Alcan also announced it has reached a deal to acquire, for US$393 million, the 30% stake it did not already own in the Gove alumina refinery and related bauxite mine in Australia’s Northern Territory. (Alcan’s 70% interest had been an Algroup asset.)

Gove has a total annual capacity of 1.8 million tonnes of low-cost alumina.