Cirrus CEO Matt Sullivan exits amid ‘comprehensive’ restructure
- 01 October, 2021 13:32
Cirrus Networks’ CEO Matt Sullivan has exited the company after 16 years amid a “comprehensive” review and restructure of the business.
The move follows Sullivan announcing he was to take a leave of absence due to personal and family reasons last month.
Sullivan originally founded L7 Solutions, a Perth-based IT integrator, in 2004, before its acquisition by Cirrus from Vocus in 2015. Shortly after, Sullivan became Cirrus CEO.
His departure comes amid a turbulent time for Cirrus as 5G Networks-owned Webcentral attempts an aggressive takeover of the IT service provider.
In addition, Cirrus also suffered a “disappointing” dip in its earnings last financial year. Cirrus claimed the review will save it $4 million against expected FY22 costs and will make it less dependent on product-only sales.
According to publicly listed Cirrus, the restructuring came in response to “the isolated but nonetheless disappointing FY21 financial performance” and in line with “strategic reviews” carried out in the current half-year.
Chief operating officer and former L7 solutions alumnus Chris McLaughlin, who stepped in as acting CEO last month, will now take over as CEO.
McLaughlin will now take the reins with fending off Webcentral, which increased its holding in Cirrus on 29 September in a bid to draw shareholder support.
Having almost doubled its holding from 8.86 to 16.74 per cent, Webcentral became Cirrus’ largest shareholder last month.
At the time, Webcentral chairman Joe Gangi Cirrus’ said Cirrus’ management and board were “underperforming”.
“Cirrus’ board and management have demonstrated themselves to be disengaged and ill-focused, and Webcentral considers them to be disingenuous in representations of a robust and fair sale process on behalf of shareholders,” he said.
“Webcentral management is focused and relentless in its pursuit of EBITDA for which it refuses to make apologies.”
In its Australian Securities Exchange update on 1 October, Cirrus claimed Webcentral’s assertions contained “multiple factual inaccuracies”.
The shareholder vote is scheduled for 15 October 2021.
