BRAMBLES director Jac Nasser, a former global chief of Ford, yesterday quit the board of the logistics group to avoid any conflict of interest after his company bought out a Mexican packaging operation.

Mr Nasser was a senior partner in One Equity Partners, the private equity arm of JPMorgan Chase, and his resignation was accepted with reluctance, according to Brambles chairman Don Argus.

Yesterday, One Equity announced it had led a management buyout of Global Packaging Corporation, which operates giant Mexican company Aluprint.

GPC makes plastic packaging and containers and is a supplier to Brambles' CHEP business.

Mr Nasser, 60, graduated from RMIT with a business degree and cut his management teeth at Ford's Broadmeadows plant.

He rose through the ranks to head the motor company in 1998 after almost 30 years of service.

He became a Brambles director in 2004, two years after he joined One Equity.

Mr Nasser's move was welcomed by some market observers as "better to be on the side of caution rather than not" in case a potential conflict arose.

"The board is there for governance reasons, so it is a commendable thing for a non-executive director to lead on good governance by stepping down," the analyst said.

US-based Mr Nasser remains on the boards of BHP Billiton, British Sky Broadcasting and Quintiles.

Up until yesterday, he retained 100,000 Brambles shares which were worth $1.05 million, but unlike the company's other directors, he was not entitled to a retirement payment.

Brambles shares have been in decline from a high of almost $15 in October to yesterday's close of $10.48, which was 23c higher than the previous session.