CentralNic Group PLC (LON:CNIC) announced several appointments that have strengthened the management team after seven acquisitions over the past two calendar years. We believe this investment in management should form a strong foundation for the company’s next phase of growth. Alex Siffrin, the company’s largest shareholder, has stepped down from the board to focus on personal priorities.
Alex Siffrin, who – together with other family members – holds 35m shares (19% of total shares outstanding), has mutually agreed with the company to step down from the board and his role as COO. Alex is a founder of Key-Systems (later KeyDrive) and joined the board on 30 July 2019 after the reverse takeover that combined the two companies. At the same time, CentralNic has made new hires into Chief People Officer and Head of Reseller Division roles and new internal appointments to Head of Shared Services, Head of Brand Services, Head of Registry Solutions and Head of Product.
Zeus Capital view: The increased divisional and product focus provided by the management changes should lead to greater accountability and increase focus on organic growth. The changes should also provide a more solid foundation for further acquisitions. We continue to see attractive opportunities for CentralNic to add shareholder value as the leading consolidator of the domain name market.
Management changes: Tracey Hickling has been appointed Chief People Officer. She was previously Global Head of HR for the Management Consulting arm of Cap Gemini and more recently SVP of People, PR and Administration for Shinogo Europe. Robbie Birkner has been appointed Head of Reseller Division. He was previously Director of Sales and International Business at Key-Systems; Director of Global Domains and General Manager, Canada, of Hostway Corporation; and founding partner in Hexonet.
The company also made key internal appointments to provide increased customer focus and accountability: Oliver Fries, previously CTO of CentralNic subsidiary Key-Systems, has been appointed Head of Shared Services. Stuart Fuller, previously Group Commercial Director, has been appointed as the Head of Brand Services division. Gavin Brown, also CentralNic’s Chief Innovation Officer, has been appointed Head of Registry Solutions. Tony Kim, previously Manager and Founder of CentralNic’s Hexonet reseller business has been appointed as the Head of Product.
CentralNic plans to release its 2019 annual report and a Q1 2020 trading update in the week commencing 27 April 2020.
