Few Details Emerge On Bitstream CEO's Departure
While management at Marlborough-based Bitstream have remained mum on the departure of Anna Chagnon as CEO, SEC filings reveal details of her severance package.
According to a filing dated May 1, Chagnon will receive a severance package valued at $611,539, which is equivalent to two year's worth of her base salary, plus unused vacation time. The company also agreed to pay up to $15,000 in "reasonable attorney's fees" in connection with her resignation.
Chagnon's departure was announced on May 2. Since that time, Bitstream officials have released no details on what prompted her exit.
During a conference call with investors on Friday afternoon in which the company announced a $1-million first-quarter loss, officials declined to provide additional details on Chagnon's departure, referencing only a short press release that was issued when she left. The press release said only that the company "is grateful to Ms. Chagnon for her years of service and wishes her well in her future endeavors."
Moving Forward
When asked during the call if the departure was amicable, Bitstream's CFO Jim Dore said that it was. Dore also said that he does not expect any litigation to result from Chagnon's departure. He said the company's board of directors agreed to pay Chagnon's attorney's fees, which cover the cost of negotiating her exit, he said.
In a resignation agreement that the company made public through an SEC filing, both Chagnon and company officials signed a "nondisparagement" agreement, which bars either side from making negative or critical statements related to her departure.
Meanwhile, the company has appointed a long-time member of the company's board of directors, Amos Kiminski, as interim president and CEO. Kiminski is being paid $1,500 per day, according to SEC filings.
The departure impacted the company's first-quarter earnings. General and administrative expenses were up from $740,000 to $1.2 million, which is where the company recorded its severance package costs related to Chagnon's departure.
Overall, losses for the company increased from $398,000 in the first quarter of last year to more than $1 million this year. That was despite revenues increasing nearly 31 percent - from about $5.2 million last year to $6.8 million this year.
Dore, the company's CFO, warned Friday that it may be at least another year until the company is profitable on an annual basis once again.
The company makes software for graphic artists and mobile communications, specializing in font technologies and mobile web-browsing applications.
The company has already begun a search for a new, permanent CEO, Dore said, but he would not say how long he expects it will take.
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