The Board of Directors of VeriFone Systems, Inc. (PAY) ("VeriFone") announced that Douglas G. Bergeron is stepping down as Chief Executive Officer and member of the Board of Directors, effective March 12.
VeriFone's Chairman, Richard McGinn, has been named Interim CEO and continues as a member of the Board; Leslie Denend has been named Interim Chairman.
Rich McGinn has served as a director of VeriFone since 2008 and as Chairman since 2012. He also serves as a member of the board of directors of American Express Co. Les Denend has served as a director of VeriFone since 2005 and is chair of the Company's Compensation Committee and also serves on the Audit Committee.
The Board also announced that it formed a search committee to evaluate candidates to serve as the Company's CEO and will be engaging a leading executive search firm to assist in the process. The search committee will be headed by Alex W. (Pete) Hart, who has served as a VeriFone director since 2006.
"Doug Bergeron has led VeriFone since 2001 and overseen its transformation into an industry leader. On behalf of the entire Board, I want to thank Doug for his dedication and his many contributions. VeriFone is a great company, and I am excited to work with our senior leadership team and Board of Directors as we look towards our next phase of growth and development. Our immediate focus will be on accelerating value creation for our stakeholders, including our shareholders, customers and employees, by leveraging our superior product and service portfolio. At the same time, we will be redoubling our efforts to reinforce our competitive positioning within the electronic payment systems industry," said Mr. McGinn. "I am confident that our search committee will identify a new leader who will bring a fresh perspective and enable us to achieve our full business potential."
Doug Bergeron said, "It has been an honor to lead VeriFone through such an exciting period in its history. I am very proud of our progress and accomplishments during the past 12 years. Now is the right time for new leadership to take the baton and continue to drive the Company forward."
The Company reiterated its guidance for second fiscal quarter 2013 and full fiscal year 2013 as outlined in the March 5, 2013 earnings announcement.