In morning trade the Splitit Ltd (ASX: SPT) share price has dropped lower following the announcement of a change of leadership.
At the time of writing the payments company's shares are down 2% to 50.5 cents.
What did Splitit announce?
This morning Splitit announced that its co-founder, Gil Don, has decided to step down from his role as the company's chief executive officer. He will remain on the board and take up the position as the general manager, EMEA.
Replacing Mr Don in the top job will be Brad Paterson, who has been the managing director of the company's North America business since June. These changes will take effect on October 1 2019.
According to the release, Mr Paterson has more than 20 years of executive and leadership experience at some of the world's leading payment companies. These include PayPal, Visa and business and accounting software company, Intuit. He will hand over his current responsibilities when a replacement has been found.
The company's chairman, Spiro Pappas, believes the company is in capable hands.
He said: "Brad has already made a significant contribution since joining the business. With his experience in helping to build and scale well-known companies in the payments industry, we always considered him a potential successor to Gil. He has demonstrated strong operational and leadership capability and the Board has absolute confidence in his ability to lead the Company through its next phase of growth as we ramp up our global ambitions. I look forward to supporting Brad over the coming months as he takes on the CEO role."
This view was echoed by the outgoing chief executive. Gil Don said: "Splitit stands apart from other instalment payment solutions and I have been honoured to lead a talented team of professionals who are passionate about delivering the best product for our customers. I have been extremely impressed with Brad's professionalism and the experience that he has brought to this position. I am very confident that Brad will successfully lead the Company in this next phase of our growth."
Commenting on his appointment, Mr Paterson said: "I am thrilled to be stepping into the role of CEO. I am extremely grateful to Gil and the Board for giving me this opportunity to build on the tremendous work that has already been done under Gil's leadership. I look forward to driving significant growth and innovation in the business by working closely with our team, customers and shareholders."
This move is quite similar to what was seen at rival Afterpay Touch Group Ltd (ASX: APT) a few months ago when its co-founder, Nick Molnar, stepped down from the chief executive officer role to become its global chief revenue officer.
Time will tell whether it proves as successful as the changes that have been made at Afterpay Touch.
