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John Croll resigns as CEO of Isentia

The boss of Australia’s biggest media monitoring company Isentia has announced his resignation.

The departure of John Croll comes a year after the company wrote off its disastrous $35m+ investment in branded content agency King Content.

In a statement posted to the ASX, Croll said: “After almost 20 years as CEO, I believe it is time for a change. I have been incredibly privileged to lead the talented and dedicated team at Isentia.

 

CEO John Croll said it is time for a change

“Over the next six months I will continue to focus on implementing strategic initiatives that will improve the performance of our media intelligence business.”

Croll will remain with Isentia for the next six months while the company looks for a replacement.

Croll’s resignation comes after spending eight years with the media intelligence company as its CEO.

He was the last remaining member of the management team involved in the King Content acquisition. Chairman Doug Flynn retired from the board late last year and chief financial officer Nimesh Shah quit last March.

In October last year Croll said he was still the right person to lead the business despite the company’s share price collapse which saw the value of the business drop by 40%.

“Definitely the execution on King Content was a mistake but as we focus on the core media intelligence business, I’m one of the key guys in the industry who people look at and say ‘he’s a leader and understands where the business goes’,” Croll said at the time.

A month prior, the CEO had insisted the company didn’t over pay for King Content.

“The first half will still be be pretty flat but as we move forward with the on-selling to clients then we’ll be in a much stronger position,” Croll flagged at the time.

In its financial results, Isentia flagged it would be making a round of cuts amounting to savings of $5-7m.

The announcement:

Isentia announces resignation of managing director and chief executive officer

Isentia Group Limited (ASX:ISD) today announced the resignation of its managing director and chief executive officer John Croll.

Mr Croll has given six months notice so that an orderly transition can occur and the Board is going to undertake a global search for his replacement.

Mr Croll said: “After almost 20 years as CEO, I believe it is time for a change. I have been incredibly privileged to lead the talented and dedicated team at Isentia. Over the next six months I will continue to focus on implementing strategic initiatives that will improve the performance of our media intelligence business.”

Mr Doug Snedden, Isentia’s chairman said: “The Board recognises the significant contribution John has made to establishing Isentia as the market leader in media intelligence in the Asia Pacific region.

“John will continue to lead the company with the support and assistance of the Board until a successor is appointed. We appreciate John’s ongoing commitment to Isentia as the notice period will ensure a smooth transition to a new CEO. An external search for a replacement will commence immediately.”

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