Petbarn owner Greencross Limited has finalised its search for a new chief financial officer, announcing the appointment of former Woolworths Group financial controller Lucas Barry.

Barry will replace Warwick Thresher, whose resignation was announced last October and will start in the second half of 2019 on the completion of notice obligations with his current employer, Opal Aged Care.

In the interim deputy CFO Kenneth Au will continue his role leading Greencross’ finance team.

Barry has spent the last year at Opal, prior to which he spent two years as Woolworths’ financial controller, leading its finance shared services team of more than 400 people.

Prior to Woolworths Barry was the CFO of oil and chemical storage business LBC Tank Terminals in Belgium, where he refinanced $750m of debt facilities through the US bond market and institutional bank market.

Greencross CEO Simon Hickey said that Barry’s experience in the retail, FMCG, professional services and aged care sectors would make him a strong addition to the team.

“[Barry’s] experience with customer-centric organisations across multiple geographies will support the growth of our integrated multi-channel pet care value proposition across Australia and New Zealand,” he said in a statement on Thursday.

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