Nine replaces COO Pat O’Sullivan with gaming company director
Out: O'Sullivan
Nine Entertainment Co’s COO and finance director Pat O’Sullivan is leaving the company after a six-year spell.
He has been replaced by the CFO and director of gaming company Aristocrat Leisure, Simon Kelly.
The announcement from Nine:
Pat O’Sullivan today announced he will be resigning as the Chief Operating Officer and Finance Director of Nine Entertainment Co. (NEC) after more than six years with the company.
Mr O’Sullivan said that after a busy and challenging period, he was planning to take an indefinite break from day to day corporate executive management to spend more time with his family and on his other interests.
“I have decided to retire after 30 years of corporate executive roles and to put my energies into other areas of my life. I have thoroughly enjoyed my time at NEC and in particular I will miss working with David Gyngell and the great team across the whole NEC business. They continue to work incredibly hard in a very challenging environment and I am very confident that NEC will have a new and sustainable capital structure over the coming months which will allow the business to successfully grow into the future,” he said.
Nine Entertainment Co. CEO David Gyngell said Mr O’Sullivan’s support and guidance had been invaluable.
”Pat has done a fantastic job for NEC over the last six years and we have worked very closely together. He’ll be missed, not only by me but our board of directors and senior management. His focus and energy on the operations and finances of the group through a very challenging few years has been first rate. We thank him for his contribution and wish him well.”
Mr Gyngell announced the appointment of Simon Kelly to replace Mr O’Sullivan as Chief Operating Officer and Finance Director. Mr Kelly will take up his new role in late April and work closely with Mr O’Sullivan through a handover period until 30 June, 2012.
“I am delighted to announce Simon Kelly, a highly credentialed executive, as Pat’s successor. In his most recent major corporate role he was CFO and Director of Aristocrat Leisure where he dealt with many challenges with distinction. Simon has held a number of senior operational and finance roles across a diverse range of industry sectors and I am confident that he will add significant value to the NEC business. We all look forward to his arrival at NEC,” Mr Gyngell said.
Who would have thought it. A director of Australia’s leading poker machine manufacturer as Nine’s COO.
That should make Gus Gould’s ill-informed rants instead of game commentary during the football coverage even more tedious and odious.
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