Making key international leadership changes in a pandemic

A reputable Japanese company (the Parent company) acquired an Australian entity before the outbreak of COVID-19.

About a year after the acquisition took place – and during the global pandemic – the General Manager resigned. This GM was also the only Australian resident director – a requirement of doing business in Australia.

The Parent company had no direct experience of running the business in Australia. Travel restrictions and border closures also meant they were unable to send a representative within their Japanese management to run the Australian subsidiary on the ground.

The immediate challenges faced by the Parent company were to identify a candidate to fill the GM role and to ensure the key management functions were supported so that the business continued to operate effectively during the transition.

A team at Grant Thornton Australia – bringing together our restructuring and turnaround experts and Japan desk representative – was engaged by the Parent company. The first step was to establish transparent and consistent communications between the Parent company and the Australian subsidiary to develop a plan for the transition.

The Grant Thornton team helped run the process for engaging a new Company Director, which was a priority given the legal requirement to have at least one Company Director located in Australia. We also assisted on transitioning responsibility from the departing GM to the temporary new GM, and attended the first meeting between new GM and the Board, as well as oversaw other matters as required by the Board of the subsidiary and the Parent company representatives.

Supporting local management was key to the business operating effectively throughout this phase, so there were regular on-site and local management meetings.

The team also liaised with the client’s largest customer, ensuring consistency in the relationship at a key time for the business, strengthening the relationship from both an operational and strategic perspective. The Grant Thornton team helped run the process for engaging a new Company Director, which was a priority given the legal requirement to have at least one Company Director located in Australia. We also assisted on transitioning responsibility from the departing GM to the temporary new GM, and attended the first meeting between new GM and the Board, as well as oversaw other matters as required by the Board of the subsidiary and the Parent company representatives.

Supporting local management was key to the business operating effectively throughout this phase, so there were regular on-site and local management meetings.

The team also liaised with the client’s largest customer, ensuring consistency in the relationship at a key time for the business, strengthening the relationship from both an operational and strategic perspective.

The Grant Thornton team was able to move quickly to identify the right people for the key leadership roles, being GM and local Australian-resident Director. The team provided financial support and was the on-the-ground liaison for the Parent company to ensure ongoing stability of the local business.