(Bloomberg) -- ED&F Man Holdings Ltd. will expand the responsibilities of chairman and agriculture-markets veteran Chris Mahoney after announcing its CEO will retire, as the struggling London-based trader seeks to turn its business around.

The company will not be appointing a new CEO after Rafael Muguiro leaves, it said in a statement. Mahoney “will take direct responsibility for the leadership and strategy of the group, supported by members of ED&F Man’s executive team.”

ED&F Man has been selling non-core and under-performing assets to focus on its core activities of trading sugar, coffee and liquid products including molasses. While the trading division has managed to turn profitable in the past few years, the company still posted a fifth year of losses in the year ended Sept. 30, according to people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be identified as the information is private.

The company is seeking $300 million to ring-fence its commodities business by borrowing the money under a new subsidiary, Bloomberg reported this week. The plan also includes the extension of slightly less than $1 billion in debt beyond 2025.

Read: ED&F Man Seeks $300 Million to Ring-Fence Commodities Business

As part of the leadership changes, the company has formed a new board for its commodities business, according to a person familiar with the matter who asked not to be identified discussing private information. The board will include divisional trading heads Arie van der Spek, Trishul Mandana and Alexandre Bauche, Chief Restructuring Officer Jade Moore, Financial Director Phillip Murnane and Mahoney as chairman. Mahoney will also remain chairman of the group executive board. 

The shake-up marks a return to actively leading a trading business for Mahoney, who joined ED&F Man last year. He retired as CEO of Glencore Agriculture, now Viterra, in 2019, and previously spent 17 years at Cargill before joining Glencore in 1998.

(Updates with information on additional commodities board)

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