London-listed Tirupati Graphite has announced a restructuring of its board of directors, which includes the appointment of Christian St John-Dennis, Murat Dogan Erden and Anthony James Nieuwenhuys as nonexecutive directors.

The company says the restructuring will enhance the corporate governance of the group, as well as strengthen its leadership.

Nieuwenhuys has board-level and executive experience with various listed mining companies. He is currently also director and CEO of TSX-listed Zeb Nickel Corporation.

Erden, in turn, is a seasoned CFO with experience in debt and capital markets, governance and financial strategy. He is currently also a director of Arch Emerging Markets Partners. He was previously a nonexecutive director of Tirupati between October 2023 and March this year.

St John-Dennis is a recognised corporate broker in the industry, as well as the CEO of Optiva Securities, in London, and a director of Hoxton Spirits. He was previously on the board as a nonexecutive director of Tirupati between April 2017 and July 2023.

Moreover, Puruvi Poddar has resigned from her position as director on the board, but will continue to contribute as chief of corporate and business development, where she will focus on advancing the company’s strategic and commercial initiatives.

Tirupati is still progressing discussions with potential CFO candidates and independent nonexecutive directors.

Once the board has been restructured, the company will pursue a fundraise to progress expansion of its graphite projects in Madagascar.

Earlier this year the company appointed Michael Lynch-Bell as nonexecutive chairperson following a shareholder-requisitioned extraordinary general meeting.

A group of shareholders holding 5.8% of Tirupati’s ordinary share capital in April requested that the company convene such a meeting, in efforts to remove then chairperson Shishir Poddar as chairperson, as well as Puruvi and Alastair Bath as directors.

The requisitioning shareholders had expressed concern about the resignation, earlier in the year, of various directors from the Tirupati board.

Tirupati in May acknowledged that its board structure and composition were not ideal and it committed to taking urgent steps to appoint a new nonexecutive chairperson, other nonexecutive directors and a CFO for the company.