TORONTO, April 17, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — AnalytixInsight Inc. (“AnalytixInsight”, or the “Company”) (TSX-V: ALY) announces the appointment, effective immediately, of Scott Urquhart as the Company’s interim President and Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Urquhart replaces the Company’s former Interim President and Chief Executive Officer, Natalie Hirsch, whose employment with the Company has been terminated, effective immediately.
This news release was unanimously approved by a majority of the Board of Directors of the Company (the “Board”) at a duly called and conducted meeting of the Board held earlier today. Such meeting was attended by three of the Company’s five directors, constituting a quorum and the majority of the Board, namely Chaith Kondragunta, Jith Veeravalli and Prakash Hariharan.
At today’s meeting, the Board received an interim report and recommendations of the special review committee of the Board formed on April 11, 2024 (the “Special Review Committee”). As disclosed in the Company’s news release dated April 12, 2024, the Special Review Committee has been mandated to investigate certain management and governance issues alleged or identified through recent activities at the Company. The Special Review Committee consists of Messrs. Kondragunta and Veeravalli.
At today’s meeting, the Board resolved to terminate, effective immediately, Natalie Hirsch’s employment with the Company for cause. Such termination was recommended to the Board by the Special Review Committee, based upon its unanimous view that it was untenable, and contrary to the best interests of the Company, to permit Ms. Hirsch to remain employed by the Company in circumstances where she has been ignoring Board instructions and issuing unauthorized and misleading public disclosure related to the Company, contrary to the Board’s written instructions.
The appointment, effective immediately, of Mr. Urquhart as the Company’s interim President and Chief Executive Officer was also unanimously recommended by the Special Review Committee. Mr. Urquhart’s appointment is subject to acceptance by the TSX Venture Exchange of his personal information form.
Mr. Urquhart served as the Company’s Vice President of Corporate Development for seven years until June of 2023. Prior to that, Mr. Urquhart held several roles in finance and M&A, including as Vice President, Investment Banking at a Canadian investment banking and securities brokerage firm. Mr. Urquhart’s significant experience in the capital markets, M&A, operations, marketing and sales, combined with his background and knowledge of the Company and its business, make him uniquely well positioned to lead the Company through this transition.
The Company also updates the market that there have recently been further unauthorized public disclosures improperly purporting to be on behalf the Company, despite not being authorized by the Board. Investors are cautioned to ensure they are relying only upon authoritative statements by the Company approved by the Board. Such statements are easily recognizable as they identify that they have been approved by a majority of the Board.
The Company has also become aware of a claim filed in the Ontario Court on April 15, 2024 purportedly on behalf of the Company, two of its directors (Vincent Kadar and Scott Gardner), the Company’s former Corporate Secretary (Aaron Atin), and the Company’s recently terminated Interim President and Chief Executive Officer (Ms. Hirsch). The filing of this claim on behalf of the Company was not authorized by the Board. The Board is reviewing the claim and will respond in due course.
In an apparent attempt to publicize the unauthorized claim, an unauthorized and misleading news release purporting to be on behalf the Company was issued on April 15, 2024, directly contrary to the disclosure controls in place at the Company and the written directions approved by a majority of the Board. During its meeting today, the Board resolved to underscore the importance to the Company of strict adherence with its public disclosure controls requiring prior approval from at least a majority of the Board of any news release, and directed management to immediately take all necessary actions to prevent further postings of unauthorized news releases on the Company’s SEDAR+ profile.
The Board consists of the following directors Chaith Kondragunta (Chair of Board), Jith Veeravalli (Independent), Prakash Hariharan (Non-Independent), Vincent Kadar (Independent) and Scott Gardner (Independent). Management of the Company currently consists of Chaith Kondragunta (Chair of the Board and Secretary), Scott Urquhart (Interim President and Chief Executive Officer) and Jonathan Dwek (Chief Financial Officer).
This news release is available under the Company’s SEDAR+ profile at www.sedarplus.ca.
Contact Information:
Name: Chaith Kondragunta
Title: Chair of the Board
Email: chaith_k@yahoo.com
Tel: 647-955-2933
About AnalytixInsight Inc.
AnalytixInsight is a data analytics and enterprise software solutions provider. AnalytixInsight develops and markets cloud-based platforms providing financial content, company analysis and stock research solutions to the financial services industry. AnalytixInsight holds a 49% interest in MarketWall S.R.L., a developer of fintech solutions for financial institutions in Italy.
Regulatory Statements
NEITHER THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE NOR ITS REGULATION SERVICES PROVIDER (AS THAT TERM IS DEFINED IN THE POLICIES OF THE TSX VENTURE EXCHANGE) ACCEPTS RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE
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