The Splitit Ltd (ASX: SPT) share price is roaring back to life in late afternoon trade. This comes after the company announced a raft of changes to its leadership team.
Earlier in the day, shares in the buy now, pay later (BNPL) company were treading just above their Friday market close. However, the Splitit share price has since tracked 7% higher to reach $1.52 at the time of writing.
Leadership change
The Splitit share price is rebounding after the shock announcement of the departure of its chair, Spiro Pappas.
In today's release, Splitit said that Mr Pappas had decided to resign from the board effective immediately, as he wished to pursue other interests away from the company.
As a result, Splitit will replace his non-executive chair position with non-executive director Dawn Robertson.
The company also announced it would seek to appoint two new independent non-executive external directors to its management team. Subject to shareholder approval, Vanessa LeFebvre and Scott Mahoney will take up the leadership roles. The company aims to call a shareholder meeting as soon as possible to gauge support for the new appointments.
Based in Oregon in the United States, Ms LeFebvre brings a wealth of retail industry experience. Ms LeFebvre currently holds the position of commercial senior vice president for Adidas in North America. Her duties include overseeing the group's wholesale, retail stores, and e-commerce channels.
Mr Mahoney, based in New York, has more than 20 years' experience in asset management in the United States. He is currently serving as an executive council member for investment advisory firm, Aviditi Advisors. Mr Mahoney is also an advisory partner for fintech venture capital fund, Tribeca Early Stage Partners.
Commentary from management
Commenting on his decision, outgoing chair Mr Pappas said:
Given Splitit's great progress since listing and the strong continued focus on opportunities in North America and Europe, now feels like the right time for me to step down as chairman. I have the utmost faith and confidence in our new chair, Dawn Robertson, who is a senior executive with deep and relevant global experience in the retail and eCommerce industries.
It is also very pleasing to see the very high calibre new board members that we have been able to attract from our global search.
New chair Ms Robertson added:
Spiro [Pappas] has made a terrific contribution as chairman since our ASX listing in January 2019. He has been instrumental in guiding the company through a period of considerable change as Splitit has developed foundations to enable growth, including helping secure new credit facilities to support our funded model and multiple capital raises.
This has been a pivotal part of our global expansion and, having successfully fulfilled this role, we respect and support his decision to pursue other interests.
Splitit share price snapshot
The Splitit share price is up more than 190% over the past 12 months. The company's shares hit an all-time low of 20.5 cents in March, before surging past pre-COVID levels in June.
In August, its shares reached a 52-week high of $1.93, a whisker away from its all-time high of $2.00 in early 2019.
Based on the current Splitit share price, the company commands a market capitalisation of $680 million.
