Unit4 has announced that Gordon Stuart is stepping down as CFO, and Matthew Bagley will replace him. Bagley will be responsible for accounting, treasury, financial planning and analysis, legal, and business and sales operations. Bagley is not the only new face at Unit4. Russell Alexander is also joining as General Counsel and will report to Bagley.
Matthew Bagley, CFO of Unit4, commented: “It’s an exciting time to be joining Unit4 as it comes off a record year of performance including the release of ERPx and the strategic buyout by TA Associates with Partners Group.
“The company’s reputation as a market leader in providing next-generation enterprise cloud solutions to people-focused mid-market services organizations will help it capitalize on market opportunities stemming from a growing need for digital transformation.
“I’m also pleased to have Russell Alexander joining the company as our new General Counsel. His broad experience will help us to accelerate Unit4’s growth in our existing and new markets and continue to develop our industry-leading innovations.”
End of the Stuart period
Stuart steps down after a busy four years that has seen him help guide the company through several transitions. Those include:
- A transition to Mike Ettling as CEO in April 2019
- The acquisition of Levio and Intuo
- The divestments of its Unit4 Wholesale to KCS and Unit4 Bedrijfssoftware to Exact
- The sale of Unit4 by Advent International to TA Associates and Partners Group
- The divestment of student information systems division
- Continued growth in the business before and through the pandemic
Mike Ettling, CEO of Unit4, commented: “Gordon Stuart has officially stepped down as CFO after having completed the transition of Unit4 to its new owners. I would like to thank Gordon for his exemplary financial and business leadership over the past four years.
“During that time, he successfully led the divestment of our domestic assets and supported our transition to becoming a leading cloud company, positioning Unit4 for its strategic sale to TA Associates – one of the Top 10 PE Software Buyouts in 2021. We wish him the best success in all his future endeavours.”
Who is Matthew Bagley
Bagley began his career at PWC. He left to hold senior finance and CFO positions at several organisations, including ViewSonic Europe, Infonic plc, Omnifone. The more recent relevant experience was an interim assignment at Reevoo for VC firm MMC Ventures. There, he completed a funding round.
He then became a senior director at the professional services firm Alvarez & Marsal (A&M), also relevant at Unit4, which has a PS team. He was CFO at eFront, a software vendor and part of BlackRock. His last role was as CFO at RIMES Technologies, a portfolio company of EQT. He is also a non-Exec at Flywheel IT Services Limited; a UK based IT Services startup and Microsoft Dynamics 365 partner.
Ettling commented: “I’m thrilled to welcome Matt to Unit4 at such a pivotal time in the company’s 40-year history. He brings extensive financial, operational, and strategic experience to the company and our global leadership team. This, combined with his proven record of scaling high-growth companies will help Unit4 as it expands its global reach, broadens its product portfolio and scales to become a €10 billion company in the next few years.”
Enterprise Times: What does this mean
Stuart will take some time away from the pressure of work for a short time. It may be shorter than he hopes as his experience and talent will be eagerly sought by many organisations.
Bagley appears to have no experience of leading a firm through an IPO. This may mean an IPO is not in Ettling’s short term plans as he continues to grow the revenues and value of Unit4. It will be interesting to see his influence on the firm and how he works with Ettling in the future.
