5 Jan 2017 07:00
RHYTHMONE PLC APPOINTS RICHARD O'CONNOR AS CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER
London, England and San Francisco, CA. - 5 January, 2017 - RhythmOne plc ("RhythmOne", "1R" or the "Company"; LSE AIM: RTHM), is pleased to announce the appointment of Mr. Richard ("Rich") O'Connor as Chief Financial Officer ("CFO"). After a suitable handover period, Mr O'Connor will take over from Ed Reginelli, who has decided to step down after five years in the role. Mr Reginelli will be available to the Company on an as required basis for up to six months to help with an orderly transition of the role.
Rich brings over 20 years of finance experience in traditional and digital media companies and has specific knowledge and familiarity with RhythmOne's operations and staff, having been the CFO of Prime Visibility Media Group prior to its acquisition by the Company.
Immediately prior to joining RhythmOne, Rich was the CFO of PageScience, the venture-funded, health-oriented programmatic network, where he managed the day-to-day operations and finances of the enterprise, including raising capital, driving the company to profitability and facilitating its sale to Accent Health Media. Prior to PageScience, Rich was part of the Private Equity-led buyout team of Prime Visibility Media Group (PVMG) in 2007, where he subsequently took over as the CFO of the company. During his tenure at PVMG, Rich was instrumental in building the finance team, establishing financial controls and processes, managing the business to strict profitability standards, restructuring the operations and balance sheet, and driving revenue growth until its eventual sale in 2011 to blinkx plc (now RhythmOne plc), when he left the Company.
Earlier in his career, Rich was a Principal at Nakita Venture Partners, a venture services company focused on the Media Industry. He began his career at Warner Bros. Domestic Television, moved on to MCA TV and, through a series of acquisitions and integrations, held finance roles within Universal TV, USAI and Vivendi Universal - eventually serving as VP of Finance and Operations at Universal Domestic Television, a $1bn Division of NBC Universal (NYSE: GE). While with Universal's TV Group, he provided financial oversight of, and was responsible for, the acquisition, integration, monetization, distribution and syndication of numerous content assets and programs. Rich earned a BS (Accounting) from University of Bridgeport.
"I'm excited to join RhythmOne at such a transformational time in its history," said O'Connor. "The Company's success and focus on mobile, video and programmatic trading offers the ideal foundation to accelerate profitable growth which, coupled with its strong financial discipline, will serve the Company well as the industry continues to evolve and consolidate."
"We are delighted to have Rich join RhythmOne and expect a seamless transition, given his deep Media, Ad-Tech and content distribution experience, and successful history of working closely with several members of the Executive team. We look forward to his energy and enthusiasm, as we embark on a new chapter in the Company's growth," said S. Brian Mukherjee, CEO of RhythmOne. "Rich's background is perfectly suited to help us scale and advance our mission to build the most efficient and effective platform for digital content distribution and advertising globally."
"At the same time, we extend our sincere thanks to Ed Reginelli for his contributions to RhythmOne as the CFO over the past five years," said Mukherjee. "During his tenure, Ed was instrumental in establishing critical financial controls and processes across RhythmOne, enabling its transformation into a leading programmatic player within the digital advertising sector and shepherding the Company's return to profitability. We wish him all the best in his future endeavors and consider him an enduring friend of RhythmOne."
About RhythmOne
RhythmOne is a technology-enabled digital media company that connects online audiences with brands through premium content across devices. Founded in 2004, the Company pioneered Internet video search and works with digital advertisers, publishers and content providers to offer fully integrated, cross-screen solutions that span desktop and mobile video, rich media, display, social and native advertising, and content formats. Through its fully integrated programmatic platform, RhythmMax, the Company represents digital advertising inventory across owned, controlled and extended supply sources. The RhythmMax platform includes unique brand safety technology, RhythmGuard, which combines leading third-party verification and proprietary filtering technologies to ensure inventory quality in brand safe environments. RhythmOne's goal is to maximize the return on advertising spend and provide the most efficient and effective marketplace for digital advertising. The Company is headquartered in San Francisco, California with offices in the US, UK and Canada. For more information please visit www.rhythmone.com.
Analyst and Investor Contact
Dan Slivjanovski
RhythmOne plc
Financial Media Contacts
Edward Bridges / Charles Palmer
FTI Consulting LLP
(UK) 020 3727 1000
Nomad and Broker for RhythmOne
Nick Westlake (Nomad) / Lorna Tilbian / Mark Lander
Numis Securities Limited
(UK) 020 7260 1000