Rayonier Inc., Jacksonville, Fla., USA, this week announced that Mark McHugh has been appointed SVP and CFO, effective Dec. 12, 2014. McHugh succeeds H. Edwin Kiker, who is transitioning to the newly created position of chief accounting officer, responsible for financial reporting, accounting operations, and implementing and ensuring proper financial controls and systems. 

 

McHugh has 15 years of experience in finance and capital markets, focusing on the timberland and REIT sectors. He joins Rayonier from Raymond James, where he served as managing director in the firm’s Real Estate Investment Banking group and was responsible for the firm’s timberland and agriculture sector coverage. Throughout his career, McHugh has provided a wide range of strategic and financial counsel to a variety of publicly traded paper, forest products, and real estate companies. 

 

"Mark has been a valued advisor to Rayonier’s senior management team in the months since the spin-off of the Performance Fibers business, and we are pleased to welcome him to this new role," said David Nunes, Rayonier’s president and CEO. "Mark’s strategic, financial, and industry expertise served us well during our recent internal review and development of our realigned strategy. We are confident that his continued insight and guidance will further support our commitment to transparency and accountability, and that he will be an excellent addition to the senior team leading Rayonier going forward."

 

Nunes added that "as a 12-year veteran of Rayonier, Ed has been an invaluable resource to the company and our shareholders. I would like to thank Ed for his effective leadership as our CFO and know that he will bring the same dedication to this new role overseeing our financial reporting, accounting operations, and internal controls. I look forward to Ed’s continued contributions as we move forward and execute our strategy." 

Prior to joining Raymond James in 2008, McHugh was a director in the Paper & Forest Products Group at Credit Suisse. He has broad experience advising paper and forest products companies, particularly timber REITs, on mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, financings, and other strategic matters.