Amar Doman is set to take over the reins of Vancouver-based CanWel Building Materials a decade after buying it and turning it into one of Canada's largest national distributors of building materials.
The Futura Corp. founder, who is chairman of CanWel Building Materials Income Fund (TSX:CWX.UN), will take over as president and CEO of the fund and its subsidiaries on January 31 after incumbent Tom Donaldson retires.
Hit hard by the housing market meltdown and industry-wide downward price pressure in lumber and panel products, the fund suffered falling demand for its products in its last quarter.
Sales dropped to $185 million during the three-month period ended June 30 from $237 million in the same period in 2008.
"The last year has witnessed some incredible changes in the Canadian and international economies, and I am very excited about leading CanWel forward as we start to emerge from these times," Doman said in announcing the changes.
CanWel distributes a range of hardware, building materials, lumber and renovation products from centres across Canada.
It was formed in 1989 by the merger of building supply distribution centres owned by Canadian Forest Products Ltd. and Weldwood of Canada Ltd.
In 1999, Futura bought CanWel, and five years later it became a publicly traded company, with Donaldson promoted as its president.
Donaldson said he's leaving to spend more time with his family in Atlantic Canada and to "pursue other opportunities and challenges."
Management changes were also made recently at Tree Island Wire Income Fund (TSX:TIL.UN), which also has Doman as chairman.
Tree Island produces wire products for a range of construction, agricultural, manufacturing and industrial applications.
By press time, CanWel's units on the Toronto Stock Exchange were trading at $2.95.