Keywords finance chief to permanently move to ops role

Video games technical and creative service provider Keywords Studios announced on Wednesday that its chief financial officer Jon Hauck would be appointed as its chief operating officer, following the appointment of a successor CFO, and a transition period.

The AIM-traded firm said the appointment would re-establish the COO role, and would support its long-term growth and strategic priorities.

Its board said it would now lead a “comprehensive process” to identify a suitable candidate for the CFO role.

Hauck would continue in his current role as the group's CFO until his successor was appointed, and would ensure a “smooth transition” of responsibilities before moving to his new role as COO.

He would also remain on the board in his new role.

As COO, Hauck would be responsible for overseeing the strategy, growth and performance of each of the service lines - ‘create’, ‘globalise’ and ‘engage’ - while continuing to lead on the execution of its merger and acquisition strategy.

Jon Hauck joined Keywords as CFO in 2019 and, in addition to his finance responsibilities, had been acting as interim COO since March, giving him “significant oversight and experience” across the group's operations.

“I am delighted that Jon has agreed to take on this new role - he has been an exceptional CFO since he joined over three years ago and, in that time, has developed a deep knowledge of the business, having acted as both interim CEO and interim COO in recent times while continuing in his existing role,” said chief executive officer Bertrand Bodson.

“We have worked very closely over the past year to set the new strategy for Keywords, and this will enable Jon to focus on the operational performance of the business and the merger and acquisition strategy, whilst strengthening our executive team with the addition of a new CFO.

“I look forward to continuing to work with him to deliver the next phase of the group's strategy.”

At 1249 BST, shares in Keywords Studios were down 0.66% at 2,400p.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.