The search for a new permanent CEO has begun. As part of this process, Blomberg will temporarily step down from his position as chairman of the board to fulfill the role. This transition comes after the departure of Hellberg, who had been leading the business since March 2018. No reason has been given for his departure. During Blomberg’s tenure as chief executive, board member Öystein Engebretsen will serve as acting chairman.
Blomberg has been a member of Catena’s board of directors since May 2019 and has served as chairman since May 2020. With over 30 years of experience, primarily as a chief financial officer in publicly listed companies, most recently at ICA handlarnas Förbund (ICA Retailers’ Association), Blomberg brings valuable expertise to the role. He has also served on the board of directors of several public and private corporations.
During Blomberg’s appointment as interim CEO, Engebretsen will serve as acting chairman. Engebretsen has been a member of Catena’s board since October 2018. He is an investment manager at Investment AB Öresund and a board member of INSR Insurance Group ASA and Scandi Standard AB.
“We are pleased to appoint Göran Blomberg as the new interim CEO of Catena Media,” stated Engebretsen. “Mr. Blomberg has solid experience and brings more than 30 years of managerial experience in a public listed environment. This makes him a good fit for Catena Media during this transition period. The board would also like to express gratitude to Mr. Hellberg for his time with Catena Media.”
In his remarks, Blomberg mentioned that, following a successful rights issue of a hybrid bond in June, the company will now focus on organic growth and potential strategic acquisitions. The aim is to enhance operational efficiency through an increased focus on business intelligence (BI) and artificial intelligence (AI), creating a more scalable business solution. To further accelerate this transformation process, McKinsey & Company has been engaged.
After scaling rapidly through an acquisition-driven strategy from 2016 to 2018, the company is now in a consolidation phase to integrate recently acquired assets. In addition to this asset consolidation, Catena has successfully entered the US and Japanese markets and developed its profitable AskGamblers product within the European market.
Results published in November revealed that Catena felt the impact of the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic, with a 5.7% decline in overall year-on-year revenue for the third quarter. The company reported declines in all its core business areas, with search revenue down 2.6% and paid and subscription revenue each falling by over 20%.
