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Morgan resigns from Acxiom, to stay on as consultant Wednesday, Nov 14, 2007 By Jason Wiest Arkansas News Bureau LITTLE ROCK - Acxiom Corp. announced Tuesday that company leader and board chairman Charles Morgan had resigned from both positions, effective immediately. After Acxiom's $3 billion private-equity buyout fell through in October, Acxiom said Morgan would resign as company leader after a successor had been named. No successor has been named. At the time, the company made no mention of Morgan resigning as chairman of the board. Experts said Morgan may be leaving his post as board chairman to help attract a new company leader. "When a CEO comes in, they don't want another strong influence there second guessing their decisions," said Steven M. Davidoff, a mergers and acquisitions expert and assistant law professor at Wayne State University Law School in Detroit. Some might view it that way, Morgan said in an interview Tuesday with Roby Brock, a business columnist for the Arkansas News Bureau. "The board's general feeling was if I was going to retire, they'd just like to go ahead and get the transaction complete," Morgan said. "And we finally came to an agreement on how all that ought to be done." Morgan will serve as interim company leader until his successor is selected, Acxiom said. In that capacity, Morgan will earn an annual salary of $815,000 with no bonus until a new company leader is hired, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing Tuesday. He will also serve as consultant to the company for up to three years, focusing on technology and innovation, Acxiom said. In that role, Morgan will earn $500,000 annually under a three-year consulting contract and receive a one-time payment of $3 million. In another development, Acxiom's board of directors nominated Kevin Twomey to fill a board seat held by Rodger Kline since 1975. Kline will continue to serve as chief administrative leader, the company said. Twomey has served in various senior executive positions, including president of The St. Joe Company from 1999 until his retirement in 2006. He currently serves as a member of the board of directors of PartnerRe Ltd, which provides reinsurance and risk management solutions. Morgan's board position has been filed by Michael Durham, elected by the board as its non-executive chairman. Durham has been a member of the Acxiom board since March 2006. He formerly served as a director, president and chief executive officer of Sabre Inc., a travel distribution company. Davidoff said he was not surprised by the moves. "Typically when an acquisition fails, as part of the process there's a reassessment by the board of the leadership of the company," Davidoff said. "I think it's part of Acxiom's strategy to reestablish itself and rebuild credibility with the market." The market reacted favorably to the announcement Tuesday. Shares of Acxiom (NasdaqGS: ACXM) closed at $13.15, up 99 cents, an 8.1 percent gain. |
