Velocity Comp Regulatory News (VEL)

2 Oct 2009 15:00



Velti plc

Appointment of CFO and other senior executives

Velti Plc ('Velti' or 'the Company'), a leading provider of software platforms, applications and services for advertising agencies, mobile operators and media, announces senior management hires, including the appointment of Wilson W. Cheung as Chief Financial Officer with effect from 5 October 2009. Three other senior executive appointments have also been made, namely Mike Walsh as VP of Business Development, Dakota Sullivan as Global VP of Marketing and Greg Bauer as VP, US East Mobile Solutions.

Wilson W. Cheung joins Velti from AXT, Inc., a NASDAQ-listed semiconductor firm where he has been CFO since 2004. AXT has more than 1,000-employees with operations in the US, Europe and Asia. Prior to AXT, he held senior financial positions at NASDAQ-listed Yahoo! Inc. and Interwave Communications. A Certified Public Accountant, he has worked as an auditor with Deloitte & Touche and KPMG. Mr. Cheung has extensive experience in managing finance and operations teams in different geographies in a public company setting and has a strong background in finance, planning, and Sarbanes-Oxley compliance. He holds a B.A. degree in Economics/Business from the University of California, Los Angeles and is a certified director of corporate governance from UCLA's Anderson Graduate School of Management. 

Mr. Cheung will be based primarily in Europe but will also be spending significant time in Velti's operations in the US; in anticipation of further growth and development, the Company plans to strengthen its finance teams in London and San Francisco. 

Pantelis Papageorgiou, Finance Director, will step down from the Board on 5 October 2009 but will remain with the Company for the time being. Pantelis has made a significant contribution to the management of Velti through a period of very rapid growth and international expansion, which included the Company's successful IPO on AIM, the London Stock Exchange's international market for dynamic, growing companies. We are delighted that he will be staying with the Company to assist Wilson settle into his new role.  Mr. Cheung will report to the CEO and will be an observer at Velti's board; there is no information that requires disclosure under AIM Rule 17.

Alex Moukas, Velti's Chief Executive Officer, commented: "Velti's rapid growth and our plans to strengthen the Company's position as the leading global player in mobile marketing and advertising, have led us to review our financial management needs and capital market strategies. Wilson brings in a high level of expertise, organisational and corporate governance capabilities and we are delighted that he has decided to join the Company." 

  Other senior executive appointments

The development of Velti's senior executive team continues with the appointment of Mike Walsh in London, Dakota Sullivan in San Francisco, Global Marketing, and Greg Bauer in New York.

Mike Walsh, VP, Business Development, will be based in London, leading Velti's sales efforts to brands and enterprises. He was previously at advertising agency group Ogilvy & Mather in various senior executive roles, including Director of the Worldwide Board, and Group CEO for UK, Europe, Middle East and Africa, a position he held for 13 years, where he managed 66 countries. He joined Ogilvy in 1983 after 11 years at Young & Rubicam and brings over 33 years of agency experience working with global brands such as Ford, Nestle, GSK, BAT, Air Canada, Spillers Petfoods, Polaroid, American Express, Heinz, Procter and Gamble and Cadbury. Mike is a trustee and former Vice-Chairman of the British Red Cross, was a World Trustee of WWF (World Wildlife Fund) and has served as Chairman of the UK Disasters Emergency Committee, representing 13 of the UK's largest international charities.

Dakota Sullivan, VP, Global Marketing, will be based in San Francisco and was previously Chief Marketing Officer for BlueLithium, the online advertising network that pioneered behavioural targeting until its recent acquisition by Yahoo. Prior to joining BlueLithium, he was Vice President, Marketing and Channel Sales at search engine technology leader LookSmart. Previously, he was VP, Creative Director at Foote, Cone & Belding, a global ad agency, where he managed campaigns for Lucent and AT&T.  He also co-founded New York interactive advertising agency, Big Island, which was acquired by Marc USA, and served as Vice President, Creative Director for the New York office of the global ad agency FCB. He holds a BA in business from the University of California, Berkeley.

Greg Bauer, VP, US East Mobile Solutions, will be based in New York and has been in the media business for more than 25 years. He spent 15 years in publishing with Crain Communications, including 8 with Advertising Age, and has been in digital media for 12 years. After working with Softbank Interactive Marketing and Ticketmaster, he joined NetCharge, a leader in the Internet payments sector, as its Founding CEO. He joined Apptera Inc. in 2007 where he worked on commercialising their ad platform for the entertainment and retail sectors. He received a BA from Vanderbilt University and completed several Executive Education programs at IBM's Advanced Business Institute and Columbia Graduate School of Business. 

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