Broadcaster ITV has turned to the tech industry to appoint a new finance chief.
Chris Kennedy, currently CFO of software business Microfocus International, is expected to join ITV as its CFO on 1st February 2019.
He joined Microfocus to bed in and drive value from the merger with Hewlett Packard’s software business which tripled the size of the business and took it into the FTSE 50.
Prior to that he was CFO at Arm Holdings where he was a key player in £24 billion, 60+ p/e sale of Arm to SoftBank.
“Chris was the stand out candidate in a very strong short list and the board are really pleased that he will bring his experience and expertise to ITV,” said ITV chairman Sir Peter Bazalgette.
“He has a great media background from his 17 years at EMI and he has built on that as a CFO of three FTSE 100 companies.”
Carolyn McCall, CEO of ITV, said: “I am really pleased to be working with Chris again as CFO. He will play a huge role in helping us deliver our new ‘More Than TV’ strategy and I know he will work really well with the senior leadership team of ITV.”
Kennedy also served as CFO at easyJet from 2010 to 2015 during which time the share price quadrupled, dividend payments were introduced and the company joined the FTSE100. For his achievements during this period he was voted FTSE 100 CFO in 2015.
He spent 17 years at EMI in a variety of roles, principally financial but including supply chain, sales, business development and general management. His last role was as chief investment officer, reporting to the CEO and new owner Terra Firma, and included investment and content licensing deals including those with new digital players.
“This is an exciting time to be joining ITV. I’m looking forward to working with the team to execute the strategy and deliver value for shareholders,” said Kennedy.
Kennedy, currently a non-executive director of Whitbread, will succeed Ian Griffiths following the announcement on 28 June 2018 of Ian’s intention to retire from ITV.
Griffiths will step down from the ITV board in December 2018 and formally leave the firm at the end of March 2019.