Ex VTB executive Riccardo Orcel joins British agri trader Quanton as chairman
By
It is the second chairmanship in less than three months for
the 56-year old Italian who fled
Orcel, whose older brother Andrea runs Italian bank
UniCredit, was one of the most established Western
bankers in
"Riccardo is a high-profile personality in the banking world
and will help us manage our financials and support our growth,"
Quanton's founder and chief executive
Orcel, who declined to comment, will now help Quanton widen
its banking relationships and scale up its business which was
established in 2020 and is a challenger to the top tier agri
trading houses such as Glencore (GLCNF), Cargill, Bunge (BG),
Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) and
Orcel's appointment comes as
Traders specialising in the agri sector have reaped big profits from the crisis as consumers' food demand remains strong despite soaring prices.
Antonini, a former friend and business partner of late
soccer star
"We have gone long in our purchases well before the crisis started and have since hedged our positions in the market," he said.
Antonini said Orcel's appointment was not linked to any
business initiative in
The firm, which has Benjamin Mancroft - a member of
Orcel will work closely with Antonini on his plans to raise growth capital ahead of a possible listing of Quanton down the line, the CEO added.
FRONTIER MARKETS
Quanton is one of a few UK-based commodities companies
trading in frontier markets such as
While food purchases by
"It's humanitarian food. Nobody is touching oil or sanctioned companies," Antonini said.
Earlier this month, Quanton sold 60,000 tonnes of German
wheat to
He added the firm was also looking to boost sales to other
countries impacted by sanctions, such as
In
"If the war (in
(