Wellington West announced a boardroom shuffle ahead of its planned initial public offering.

At the firm’s annual general meeting on Dec. 21, 2006, two new directors were added to the board, Richard Kroft, a lawyer and retired senator, and Brian Hayward, president and CEO of Agricore United.

In addition, several directors are stepping down as part of the board re-organization, Jerome Cohen, Kevin Hooke, Donald McDonald, Gregory Thompson and Howard Young, although they will remain in their current executive management roles with the company.

“Our retiring directors are to be congratulated for their outstanding contributions to the development of the company to-date,” stated Kishore Kapoor, Wellington’s president, in a news release. “Their continued input will be a valuable asset to our new board and ensure the continuation of the unique corporate values and culture that make our company distinctive.”

“As part of the process leading up to an initial public offering for our company, we have elected a board to ensure that we have a majority of independent directors,” Kapoor added.

Kroft and Hayward join join Gary Filmon, Nancy Shewfelt and company founder, Charlie Spiring, on the firm’s board.