Baillie, Rust exit Ingram

Ingram Micro Australian managing director, Kerry Baillie, has announced he will resign from the company and be replaced by current Asia-Pacific CFO, Guy Freeland, on September 1.

The news comes as former Ingram MD and present director of operations, Steve Rust, announced he would also retire later this year.

Baillie, who was formerly head of Tech Pacific, accepted the Ingram job in January after the distributor acquired its largest competitor. He had led Tech Pac for four years.

Baillie, who turned 60 this year, said he would be retiring from the IT industry.

"I've been in the industry for 30 years, which is a good innings," he said. "It was a question of what's appropriate for the business and for myself."

Although the news has stunned many in the industry, Baillie said he had been in discussions with Tech Pacific's management team since November 2003 to determine an appropriate time to retire.

"With the new management in place, it's a good inflection point," he said. "The integration is completed, and by the time I leave it will be done and dusted. It's a good time to retire in terms of the way the business is going."

Baillie, who will provide transitional support until his retirement, said there had been several candidates for his job but backed the appointment of Freeland.

"Guy is a very good choice," he said. "He's an Australian, he knows the business and he's keen to come back here. He's the right man for the job."

Baillie said he and Rust had made the decision to exit the company separately.

Ingram Asia-Pacific chief operating officer, Shailendra Gupta, said the company would miss both leaders.

"Under Kerry's leadership we have restructured the merger companies to be more efficient, investing in better warehouse facilities and streamlining administration," he said in a prepared statement. "Guy has great experience with the company and knowledge of the industry. He is the ideal candidate to maintain the company's focus on its mission to be the best distribution in Australia."

Baillie said it had been an exciting time working through the integration of Tech Pacific and Ingram.

He was unsure of what his next steps would be: "But I've still got some energy left," he said.

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