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RNS Number : 7075U
Spirent Communications PLC
01 April 2019
SPIRENT COMMUNICATIONS PLC
Appointment of Chief Executive Officer
London, UK - 1 April 2019: Spirent Communications plc
("Spirent", the "Company" or the "Group") (LSE: SPT), a leading
communications technology company, today announces that Eric Updyke
has been appointed as Chief Executive Officer-designate of Spirent
Communications plc. His employment will start on 1 April 2019 and
he will be appointed as a director of the Company and take up the
CEO position following the AGM on 1 May 2019.
Eric's appointment follows Spirent's announcement in November
2018 that Eric Hutchinson wished to retire after 37 years of
employment with the Group, most recently as Chief Executive
Officer, following his appointment to that role in 2013. He will
step down from the Board after the AGM on 1 May 2019.
Eric Updyke has extensive experience in international business
management with a strong technical understanding of the markets in
which Spirent operates. He has worked in various sections of the
industry over the last 30 years and has led transformative growth
programmes on a global scale.
Most recently, Eric was on the Executive Management team of
Amdocs reporting directly to the CEO. In his capacity as Group
President, Services at Amdocs Ltd he had global responsibility for
the entire Managed Services, Testing and SI businesses. This
business encompassed 10,000 employees and roughly $2 billion in
revenue. Prior to that role, Eric was Division President for North
America at Amdocs where he managed a $1 billion P&L and was
responsible for the relationship with North American communications
service providers. Prior to his time at Amdocs, he held executive
roles at Nokia Siemens Networks and AT&T. Eric has a great
track record of success, has functional expertise in every facet of
the business and has excelled in multi-cultural global companies.
Eric has an MBA in Finance and a bachelor's degree in Electrical
Engineering from Cornell University.
Commenting on the appointment, Bill Thomas, Chairman, said:
"The Board wanted to appoint an executive who was growth
oriented with global experience and deep expertise in our chosen
markets. We are delighted to appoint Eric and are confident that he
meets all those criteria.
"I would also like to express the Board's thanks and
appreciation to Eric Hutchinson who has created the platform to
realise Spirent's potential."
Spirent CEO Eric Hutchinson said, "I wish Eric every success in
his new role."
Eric Updyke said "I am delighted to be joining Spirent. It has a
range of leading technologies and well established relationships
with many of the industry's global leaders. I look forward to
building on its current strengths and exploring ways in which to
further exploit Spirent's potential."
Director Declarations
No information is required to be disclosed under UKLA Listing
Rules, paragraph 9.6.13R (1) to 9.6.13R (6):
Interests in Spirent securities (Ordinary shares of 3 & 1/3
pence each)
N/A
Remuneration for Eric Updyke
Eric Updyke will receive a basic salary of $720,000 per annum
along with benefits in line with local US practice. These will
include medical and dental insurance, life cover, the right to
defer salary into a Group deferred compensation plan and
participation in the Company's 401(k) plan. He is also entitled to
a car allowance of $20,000. His employment can be terminated by the
Company on 12 months' notice or by him on six months' notice.
From joining, he will participate in the Company's:
-- Annual Cash Incentive Plan, under which for 2019 the
on-target performance opportunity is 90 per cent of base salary
(with the maximum opportunity being 150 per cent of base salary).
Any payment for 2019 will be calculated pro-rata to Eric's length
of service in the year.
-- Long Term Incentive Plan, and during 2019 is expected to be
granted an award (on the same terms as the Company's current
executive directors) equal to 150 per cent of base salary.
Buy-out award
It is anticipated Eric Updyke will be granted a buy-out award of
up to $1.2 million to replace awards forfeited by him on leaving
his previous employment. It is anticipated any buy-out award will
vest subject to continued employment and satisfactory personal
performance in three equal tranches over one, two and three years.
The Company may make use of Listing Rule 9.4.2(2) in order to make
the buy-out award.
All proposed payments are in line with Spirent's shareholder
approved Directors' Remuneration Policy. Full details of Eric
Updyke's remuneration will be disclosed in the Company's Annual
Report and Accounts for the year ending 31 December 2019.
- ends -
Enquiries
Eric Hutchinson, Chief Executive Spirent Communications
Officer plc +44 (0)1293 767676
Paula Bell, Chief Financial
Officer
James Melville Ross/Dwight +44 (0)20 3727
Burden/Adam Davidson FTI Consulting 1000
About Spirent Communications plc
Spirent Communications plc (LSE: SPT) offers test, measurement,
analytics and assurance solutions for next-generation devices and
networks. Spirent provides products, services and information
solutions for high-speed Ethernet, positioning mobile network
infrastructure markets, with expanding focus on service assurance,
cyber security and 5G. Spirent is accelerating the transition of
connected devices, network equipment and applications from
development labs to the operational network, as it continues to
innovate toward fully-automated testing and autonomous service
assurance solutions. Further information about Spirent
Communications plc can be found at
https://corporate.spirent.com/.
Spirent Communications plc Ordinary Shares are traded on the
London Stock Exchange (ticker: SPT; LEI: 213800HKCUNWP1916L38). The
Company operates a Level 1 American Depositary Receipt (ADR)
programme with each ADR representing four Spirent Communications
plc Ordinary Shares. The ADRs trade in the US over-the-counter
(OTC) market under the symbol SPMYY and the CUSIP number is
84856M209. Spirent ADRs are quoted on the Pink OTC Markets
electronic quotation service which can be found at
http://www.otcmarkets.com/marketplaces/otc-pink.
Spirent and the Spirent logo are trademarks or registered
trademarks of Spirent Communications plc. All other trademarks or
registered trademarks mentioned herein are held by their respective
companies. All rights reserved.
Cautionary statement regarding forward-looking statements
This document may contain forward-looking statements which are
made in good faith and are based on current expectations or
beliefs, as well as assumptions about future events. You can
sometimes, but not always, identify these statements by the use of
a date in the future or such words as "will", "anticipate",
"estimate", "expect", "project", "intend", "plan", "should", "may",
"assume" and other similar words. By their nature, forward-looking
statements are inherently predictive and speculative and involve
risk and uncertainty because they relate to events and depend on
circumstances that will occur in the future. You should not place
undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which are not a
guarantee of future performance and are subject to factors that
could cause our actual results to differ materially from those
expressed or implied by these statements. The Company undertakes no
obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained in
this document, whether as a result of new information, future
events or otherwise.
This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the
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contact rns@lseg.com or visit www.rns.com.
END
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