By Svea Herbst-Bayliss and Kritika Lamba
(Reuters) -Dye & Durham on Monday announced a dramatic shift in leadership when it named a new chief executive and a new chief financial officer, ignoring demands from a former chief who is also a large investor to pursue a different course.
The Canadian legal software maker appointed former LexisNexis executive George Tsivin as chief executive and brought back Avjit Kamboj to reprise his role as chief financial officer. It also hired Nikesh Patel as chief product officer.
“After an in-depth and diligent search, we have assembled a world-class leadership team to guide the company through its next chapter,” board chair Arnaud Ajdler said in a statement.
Kamboj, who left Dye & Durham in 2022, guided the company’s financial strategy during its initial public offering and significant growth stages.
The announcement comes two weeks after a former Dye & Durham CEO, Matthew Proud, urged the company to stop searching for a new chief and permanently hand the job to the man doing it already in an interim capacity.
More importantly, Proud, whose company Plantro Ltd controls 12% of Dye & Durham, urged a board refresh and is pushing the company to divest the financial services division and then begin work on selling the remaining core business. He also said he is ready to call a special shareholder meeting unless the board considers the changes he is proposing. He stepped down from the CEO position six months ago.
Dye & Durham’s financial performance has worsened, Proud said on Monday, as earnings have dropped against a backdrop of higher costs and flat revenue. The company has not publicly responded to Proud’s criticisms.
The company last month reported third quarter fiscal 2025 earnings and its stock price tumbled 50% in the last six months, valuing the company at roughly $490 million.
The stock price fell nearly 2% in early trading on Monday.
At December’s annual meeting, activist investor Engine Capital, run by Ajdler, won control of the board through a proxy fight.
(Reporting by Svea Herbst-Bayliss in New York and Kritika Lamba in Bengaluru; Editing by Leroy Leo and Nick Zieminski)
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