Ardent Leisure CEO Deborah Thomas to be replaced by Nine's Simon Kelly
Ardent Leisure has replaced chief executive Deborah Thomas with former Nine Entertainment chief operating officer Simon Kelly a month after corporate raiders Gary Weiss and David Baffsky built up a stake in the troubled theme park and arcade operator.
Mr Kelly will become chief operating officer and managing director on July 1, Ardent said on Wednesday. Ms Thomas will take the roles of chief customer officer for the group and chief operating officer for its Australasian business.
Under Ms Thomas’s watch the company suffered a fatal accident at its Dreamworld, Queensland theme park in October and reported a weaker-than-expected performance at its US Main Event Entertainment business in February.
The transition was initiated by Ms Thomas, after the completion of a review of the group’s global growth strategy and following the divestment of its non‐core health club and marina assets, the company said.
The company also said chief financial officer Richard Johnson had resigned to return to the UK and be with his family. Mr Johnson’s resignation was “independent of the CEO transition,” Ardent said.
The appointment of Mr Kelly, who has also held senior executive roles at Goodman Fielder, Aristocrat Leisure and Virgin Australia, comes after the purchase of a 5.7 per cent stake in the company by Ariadne, the vehicle of Mr Weiss and Mr Baffsky.
They bought into the company that shed more than one-fifth of its value on the day of its February interim results announcement and were thought to be pushing for management change.
“We are pleased to announce this significant boost to our management team,” Ardent chairman George Venardos said.
“Simon, who will transition to the role over the next few months with the support of Deborah, brings to the group a wealth of experience in the management of multinational operations, financial control and the entertainment sector.”
