Michael Hale Email and Phone Number

Led syndicated financing for the largest acquisition in company history, successfully closing on an aggressive timeline.Organized the Treasury pandemic response to ensure ample liquidity and capital to manage through uncertainty.Assisted family and company philanthropic foundations in investment reviews, manager changes, and cash raising activities to support charitable contributions.

Headed the Global Treasury function for a large multinational food and agribusiness company encompassing financing, cash, leasing, customer credit & collections, and financial risk management.Developed and implemented an overhaul of financial covenants for all Company debt to preserve favorable legacy covenants while gaining competitive market covenants and providing a consistent set of terms and conditions for revolving, term, tax-exempt, and private placement debt.Established the strategy for and led negotiation of >$1B of unsecured credit agreements for term and revolving facilities, unsecured note purchase agreements, tax-exempt bonds, and secured joint-venture financing and amendments of the same.Ran the Investment Committees for Company defined benefit, defined contribution, and non-qualified executive compensation plans. Recommended and implemented fund changes and liability de-risking initiatives. Maintained positive relationships with lenders, note investors, and rating agencies to communicate Company strategies and financial results.Continued to perform duties of prior Director, Commodity Risk role.

Led company-wide commodity and foreign exchange risk management function for a wide range of key exposures including cattle, grains, energy, soybean oil, and currency pairs using futures, options, OTC swaps, and forwards.Established hedge and exposure reporting capabilities to better collaborate with management and improve hedge planning, decision-making, and visibility.Restructured disparate hedging policies into a single global derivatives risk management framework.Implemented electronic commodity futures trading platforms and Bloomberg foreign exchange platform to increase hedging process efficiency and effectiveness while reducing transaction costs.Developed and executed hedging strategies for illiquid markets and new exposures to include futures contract roll/spread strategies and options on futures for cattle and grains.Created physical natural gas sourcing strategies to ensure reliable supply at lowest total cost.

Directed enterprise hedging efforts to include evaluating business risks and developing risk management strategies for natural gas, corn, steel, diesel, and currency pairs.Led Derivatives Risk Management Committee comprised of a cross-functional senior management team to oversee company risk management programs.Implemented compliance measures for Dodd-Frank regulations.Developed a financial risk assessment framework to evaluate and proactively manage risks for key financial and business relationships using credit default swap (CDS) spreads and other tools.Executed special projects and negotiations in finance and operations at management request.Managed a staff of treasury professionals in cash management and treasury operations with banking activities in the US, Canada, Mexico, and Europe.Served as a member of the company’s Retirement Funds Investment Committee, a management team overseeing pension investments and company 401(k) programs.

Directed the enterprise-wide energy procurement function for purchases of natural gas and electricity totaling up to $300 million annually.Managed vendor relationships to include setting strategy and objectives, assessing performance, and negotiating contract terms and conditions.Developed and executed swaps and options strategies to hedge input cost and cash flow volatility.Crafted financial models to assess costs and benefits of energy efficiency projects, asset sales, mergers & acquisitions, and project partnerships.Led energy reduction and sustainability initiatives to include setting program targets and reporting to management, investors, customers, industry associations, and government agencies.Created and presented energy and other market assessments and strategic recommendations to Derivatives Risk Management Committee, senior management team, and board of directors.Reviewed federal and state policy and advised management and lobbyists of impacts and strategies.Established hedge accounting program in accordance with ASC 815.

Managed accounting and financial reporting processes for energy procurement and hedging.Analyzed market drivers and presented analysis and hedging recommendations to management.Audited energy invoices for contract compliance.Developed energy consumption and cost forecast models used as inputs to corporate planning, strategy development, budgets, and financial reporting.

Defined IT, energy procurement, and hedging controls and conducted independent audit assessments and risk monitoring as part of Sarbanes-Oxley compliance efforts.Assessed network and server security controls and risk for manufacturing, distribution, retail, and e-commerce businesses in the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.Reviewed large dollar IT projects for project management controls.