STUART Rogers is to be replaced by Sharon Daniels as chief executive and chair of alternative investment market-listed Arria NLG ahead of its transition to a primary listing on the New Zealand Stock Exchange (NZSX).
Ms Daniels experience in helping New-York headquartered Diligent Corporation transition to the New Zealand exchange is crucial for Arria NLG as it proceeds with its launch on both the NZSZ and in Australia, ahead of a major sales push into the US.
It is anticipated that upon completion of the listings Matthew Gould will be appointed chief executive with Ms Daniels continuing as chairwoman.
Arria NLG, which uses technology spun-out of Aberdeen University to generate written reports from complex data, announced plans to list in New Zealand in June 2015.
Describing the plan for Arria NLG’s technology as “built in Aberdeen, financed in New Zealand and sold in the US”, Mr Gould said Ms Daniels’s background made her the perfect candidate to lead the company through this chapter in its history.
Ms Daniels co-founded Diligent Corporation, with a team that included other Arria NLG co-founders. After a NZ$24m initial public offering, the software company grew to become a member of the S&P/NZSX 50 composite index before being acquired by Insight Venture Partners in February this year for NZ$943 million (£515m).
Mr Gould said the main reason New Zealand had been chosen was its affinity with Scotland, the strength of the market, and its market governance.
In July, Arria issued £545,000 of loan notes to raise working capital, after saying that the plans for the listings were on track. Over the last 12 months the company has received a total of £6.3m in funding. The company, which booked an £8.4 million pre-tax loss for the six month to March 31, plans to continue its London listing.
"Using the capital we raise in New Zealand and Australia in addition to what’s already been invested, we can take this technology, which was invented in Aberdeen, out into the US market,” said Mr Gould.
Subject to regulatory approval, Arria NLG also plans to appoint experienced New Zealand capital management executive Falcon Robert Storer Clouston as deputy chairman and head of the audit committee. He will replace Michael Higgins, who will step down from the board along with Mr Rogers.
“Both Mr Rogers and Mr Higgins have provided invaluable leadership and guidance to the company and helped lay the foundation for the commercial success of Arria NLG in the future,” said the company.
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