UTi REALIGNS MANAGEMENT

UTi REALIGNS MANAGEMENT    UTi, the California-based global logistics company formerly known as Union-Transport, has realigned upper management and consolidated its headquarters in the United States.
   Rober MacFarlane, chief executive of the Americas, has been named UTi's CEO, and Peter Thorrington, CEO for Europe and the Mideast is now president and chief operating officer. Tiger Wessels remains UTi's chairman.
   These global staff positions now report to Thorrington: Alan Draper remains president for Asia-Pacific; Greg Montgomery, formerly president of North America, is now president of the Americas; John Hextall is managing director of the Atlantic region of Europe; Dieter Kraus continues as managing director of central Europe and the Mideast; Wessels continues to be responsible for Africa, supported by Gordon Abbey, managing director UTi Africa; and Graham Somerville is managing director for Sun Courier Division.
   Reporting to MacFarlane and based in California are: Gene Ochi continues as senior vice president for marketing and sales; Rick Anchan has been promoted to senior vice president for global processes and predictable performance, and will spearhead the development of company-wide warehousing; Lawrence Samules has been named senior vice president and chief financial officer and has transfer to California from South Africa; and Linda Bennett has joined the company as senior vice president and chief information officer, based in California.
   UTi, formerly Union-Transport, is based in Rancho Dominguez, Calif.
   The move marks an end to a unique management structure at UTi, in which three CEOs — MacFarlane, Thorrington and Wessels — ran the company from different regions of the world. It could also signal that UTi is preparing for an initial public offering of stock on the U.S. NASDAQ market. The company declined to comment on its equity plans earlier in the year, other than to say it was entering a quiet period.