EMAP CEO to leave

David Gilbertson, the chief executive of business-to-business publisher Emap, whose properties include Broadcast, Retail Week, Cannes Lions and BRAD, is to leave the company after three years.

The Telegraph reports today that Emap, which was bought by Guardian Media Group (GMG) and Private equity firm Apax at the height of the M&A bubble, “has struggled to meet the ambitious projections laid out at the time of the acquisition.”

The Telegraph adds: “It is thought that Mr Gilbertson, like many executive teams backed by private equity, was looking to renegotiate the management award scheme.

“Because management buy-out’s are structured so that when a company is sold investors need to make a specified return before management make any money, it is possible that Emap’s top 20 executives have all their equity under water with little chance of making the expected windfalls on exit.”

In October the company reported a 4pc fall in operating profit to £52m for the first half of 2010 and the same fall in revenue to £135.5m.

The Telegraph quotes an email to staff at Emap from Mr Gilbertson: “The world… is a very different place than it was in 2008…The economic turmoil of the last few years has extended the likely period of Emap’s private equity ownership. As we now emerge from recession the business is embarking on what is effectively a fresh start on a new growth path.

“This year we expect to see year-on-year profit growth for the first time since the business was acquired and we are on target to achieve that. This then provides an opportune moment for new leadership to come in to take Emap on into the next chapter of its development over the next five years.”

Media Guardian reports that Martyn Hindley, Emap’s chief financial officer, will lead the management team on an interim basis until a replacement is found.