Catena Media has finalised its year-long search for a new Chief Financial Officer, announcing the appointment of Peter Messner.
Messner will join the company on 1st April 2020, taking over from Interim Financial Lead Erik Edeen.
Experienced
Messner will join the Stockholm-listed company from Modern Times Group (MTG), a media conglomerate in Sweden. During his time here, he was the CFO for their MTGX division.
In its press release, Catena said that he “has extensive experience from leading roles within finance and controlling functions.”
Altogether, Messner has over 20 years of experience in the international management of online businesses. Eight of these have been spent within iGaming, while he has also worked within digital media.
One of his roles within online gambling was as the CFO of OnGame Systems. This European poker network which was sold to Amaya Gaming (Legacy Stars Group Inc) for €15 million in 2012.
Staying on
Edeen will move out of his interim role at Catena Media, but will continue to help the affiliate marketing giant “in strategic projects for the foreseeable future”.
CEO Per Hellberg shared his thoughts on Messner’s appointment, as well as Edeen’s contributions. These were as follows.
“With a well-functioning financial infrastructure in place, due to Erik’s contributions, our playing field is now ready to welcome Peter as CFO. His wide-ranging experience in key online media and gaming industries will fortify Catena Media’s operations in the years to come.”
Financial restructuring
During his time as Interim Financial Lead, Edeen has overseen a reformation of Catena Media’s financial structure.
Prior to that, Pia-Lena Olofsson had left her role as CFO at the beginning of 2019. Ever since then, the company has been looking for a permanent replacement – which they have now found.
Catena Media reported a 2.1% year-on-year revenue decline for 2019, reaching €102.8 million in total. This was attributed to adjustments, as well as struggling core business units.
After this, Hellberg spoke about the need to keep up with current online realities. As such, he said that the company had to write down “the value of certain assets acquired in the period 2016-2018, which simply can’t perform under today’s market conditions.”
