Gaming Realms Regulatory News (GMR)

28 Sep 2009 16:27



The following announcement replaces the Appointment of new CEO announcement made by the Company released on 1 September 2009 at 07:00 under RNS number 2682Y.

28 September 2009

Pursuit Dynamics plc

("Pursuit Dynamics" or "the Company")

Appointment of new CEO

Pursuit Dynamics plc (AIM: PDX), the developer and exploiter of the PDX platform technology, is pleased to announce today the appointment of Roel Pieper as Chief Executive Officer and member of the Board of Directors effective immediately.

John Heathcote has resigned today as CEO and as a Director of Pursuit Dynamics but will remain available to assist with the transition.

Roel Pieper, aged 53, will be based at the Company's headquarters in Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire. He is an international business leader who brings with him significant public company experience as well as extensive experience with high tech company management and the commercialisation of new technologies. 

Andy Quinn, Chairman of the Board of Pursuit Dynamics, commented:

"I am delighted to welcome Roel as our CEO. His vast experience in successfully developing and commercialising new technologies at some of the world's leading companies will be a huge asset for the Company. We are very glad that he shares our vision for the Company and has agreed to join us. The Board is looking forward to working with him to build on the strong foundations set by John Heathcote and to take the Company forward to the next stage of its development.

On behalf of the Board I would like to thank John for his fantastic contribution to Pursuit over the last nine years since founding the Company in 2000. He has worked tirelessly and skillfully to develop the wide application of the PDX platform technology and his presence will be missed.  We wish him well in his future endeavours."

Commenting on his appointment Roel Pieper said:

"I am very pleased to be joining Pursuit Dynamics. The PDX platform technology is exciting with significant commercial potential and I expect to be able to help it to grow into a substantial international business with multiple applications. I am looking forward to working with the team to exploit that potential to create significant value for our shareholders."

Roel Pieper Biography

Mr. Pieper's professional career began in 1980 at Software AG of Germany, one of the first independent software companies in the world. During a ten year period he worked for the company in Germany and the United States, finally serving as Chief Technology Officer, when Software AG became one of the world's largest software companies.

Following that, Mr. Pieper served as President and CEO of AT&T's Unix Systems Laboratories from 1990 until 1993. The success of Unix System Laboratories (USL) during that time enabled it to become the open source platform that is now widely used in the computer industry. USL was successfully sold to Novell, Inc. in 1993.

From 1993 until 1995, he served as President and CEO of UB Networks, a subsidiary of Tandem Computers and in 1995 was named as President and CEO of Tandem Computers. Tandem Computers was successfully sold to Compaq Inc. in 1998. 

In 1998, Mr. Pieper joined Philips Electronics in his home country, the Netherlands. He served as Executive Vice President of Royal Philips Electronics N.V., where he was also a Member of the Board of Directors from 1998 until 1999.

From 1999 until 2007, Mr. Pieper was involved in Favonius Ventures, an international venture capital fund that he founded. The fund invested in high tech companies in USA, Europe and Israel. Many investments made through venture capital funding are high risk by nature and, therefore, susceptible to failure which can result in a company being put into voluntary insolvency and or liquidation.

Mr. Pieper was in 2000 appointed as Professor of Electronic Commerce at the University of  Twente and is part of the NIKOS Entrepreneurship department.

The companies and partnerships of which Mr. Pieper has been a director or partner in the past five years are as follows:

Mr Pieper has also been a director of the following companies in the past:

Lernout&Hauspie NV, the company filed for Chapter 11 protection in November 2000.

Stonehenge BV, the company filed for insolvency in late 2000, after a failed financing.

Opinio BV, the company was put in voluntary insolvency in March 2008.

ETIRC BV, the company filed for insolvency in March 2009 after shareholders agreed in super majority to suspend operations.

Eclipse Aviation Inc, the company filed for chapter 11 in October 2008 after a refinancing failed and a restructuring was agreed amongst all debt holders. 

ROAD Group AG filed for insolvency by a majority of its shareholders in July 2009. Its application for insolvency was approved by the Swiss courts late in July 2009.

MyGuide (an operating subsidiary of Road Group AG) applied for insolvency supported by a majority of the shareholders in December 2008 and was declared insolvent at around the turn of the year.

Axiom International Limited, the company was placed in voluntary creditor's liquidation on 19 November 2004 and dissolved on 4 July 2007 following the completion of the liquidation process.

Paperx.com Limited, the company went into voluntary insolvency on 1 March 2001 leading to its dissolution on 19 February 2008.

No further information is required to be disclosed pursuant to schedule 2 paragraph (g) of the AIM Rules.

- Ends -

For Further Information, please contact:

Pursuit Dynamics  Tel: +44 (0)1480 422050

Andy Quinn, Chairman

Donald Bell, Chief Financial Officer

Financial Dynamics

Ben Foster / Marc Cohen  Tel: +44 (0) 20 7831 3113

Cenkos Securities plc

Ian Soanes  Tel: +44 (0)20 7397 8924

Mirabaud Securities LLP

Rory Scott / Peter Krens   Tel: +44 (0)20 7878 3360

Notes to Editors

- Pursuit Dynamics PLC (AIM: PDX) owns and commercialises the PDX fluid processing reactor whose benefits include significant reductions in energy usage, process acceleration and result enhancement for industries such as Bioethanol production, Food & Drink, Brewing, Fire Suppression and Decontamination. 

- Pursuit Dynamics is headquartered in Huntingdon, UK and has offices in Norwalk, Connecticut, and Fallbrook, California, USA.

- Further information is available at the Company's website: www.pursuitdynamics.com