Maximo Ibarra, the head of Comcast Corp.’s Sky Italia, is stepping down to take the top role at Engineering Ingegneria Informatica SpA, an Italian tech firm backed by Bain Capital.
Engineering Ingegneria Informatica announced the move in a statement late Tuesday, confirming a Bloomberg report. The company will vote to confirm Ibarra’s appointment at its annual meeting on April 29. It also plans to make him a partner.
Ibarra, who took over at the Italian pay-TV company in October 2019, will leave Sky at the end of July. Last month, the executive failed to win a TV rights deal with the top Italian soccer league, ending Sky’s almost two-decade era as the main domestic broadcaster of one of the world’s most prestigious tournaments.
At Engineering Ingegneria Informatica, Ibarra’s goals will include doubling the company’s sales in the next three years and listing it on the Milan Stock Exchange, people familiar with the situation said. The 52-year-old CEO previously ran Royal KPN NV, the former Dutch phone monopoly.
Engineering Ingegneria Informatica is one of Italy’s largest tech firms, offering services such as cloud computing, augmented reality and digital finance to clients such as American Express Co. and Vodafone Group Plc. It had about 1.3 billion euros ($1.6 billion) in 2019 revenue and employs about 12,000 workers in 11 countries including Italy, Germany and the U.S., according to the company’s website.
Last autumn, Bain Capital Private Equity and Neuberger Berman Group LLC issued a 605 million-euro high-yield bond to finance the purchase of Engineering Ingegneria Informatica.
Ibarra is expected to take up his new duties in January.
Sourced from Bloomberg - written by Daniel Lepido