Louis Dreyfus Commodities on Wednesday said Mayo Schmidt would not become its chief executive after failing to agree terms, forcing the global trading group to resume a search it first launched in April.

Schmidt, former head of Canadian grain handler Viterra, had been due to take up the post on Jan. 5 after being nominated by Louis Dreyfus at the end of November in the latest stage of a corporate shake-up at the 163-year-old family-owned firm.

“Following a more detailed analysis of the terms and conditions of their planned employment relationship, Louis Dreyfus Commodities and Mr. Schmidt have jointly decided not to proceed with the engagement,” the company said in a statement.

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