Elders has appointed a new chairman tasked with restoring the 174-year company into purely a rural services player.

Mark Allison, an Elders board member since November 2009, was elected to the post on Thursday, a week after the debt-laden company rejected a takeover offer from rival agricultural business Ruralco.

That decision saw another $9 million wiped from the market value of Elders, as an eight-month process to sell its agricultural and real estate divisions failed.

The announcement of a new chairman has seen Elders Limited’s share price add 5.88 per cent, or 0.4 per cent, to 7.2 cents at noon AEST.

Former chairman John Ballard told the board his resignation would have immediate effect, with his successor and the board thanking him for guiding Elders through a “very complex restructuring and divestment program”.

“The process of returning Elders to its original rural services focus is now nearing its final stages and we thank John for his contribution to this process,” Mr Allison said in a statement.

Elders had put up its agricultural and car interiors business Futuris up for sale last year in a bid to pay off its massive debts.

The company is hoping to finalise an arrangement with financiers by mid to late August following a failure to sell its rural services business, the company told the market on Thursday.

It has earlier said it was negotiating with one of the three unnamed bidders to finalise the sale of Futuris.

Mr Allison is the present chief executive of Grain Growers Limited, and has previously served as managing director of Wesfarmers Landmark Limited, Farmoz and Wesfarmers CSBP Limited, along with general manager roles at Crop Care Australasia and Incitec Limited.