Edward Coleman, hired six years ago during the worst of the recession to help Unisys stem a series of financial losses, will leave the tech vendor Dec. 1.
Unisys officials announced Oct. 6 that Coleman is resigning after board directors felt that a change in leadership was required. The company, which has been modernizing its mainframe systems with chips from Intel while expanding into areas such as software and the cloud, has stumbled financially in recent quarters. In the second quarter, Unisys lost $12.1 million after earning $20.4 million in the same quarter in 2013.
Second-quarter revenue fell 6 percent over the same period last year, to $806 million, the company announced in July.
Coleman came to Unisys in October 2008 after helping revive PC maker Gateway before selling the company to Acer for $710 million. Paul Weaver, lead independent director of the Unisys board, said in a statement that Coleman “led the turnaround of the company. Under his leadership, Unisys strengthened its balance sheet and moved to a positive net cash position, delivered five consecutive years of profits and free cash flow, and reinvigorated its offerings, bringing to market innovative new products and services which we believe will serve as the foundation for Unisys success in the coming years.”
However, board members believe that, after Coleman stabilized the company, a new CEO is needed to help it grow, Weaver said.
Coleman in a statement said he was “proud of our team’s many accomplishments over that time. I look forward to Unisys building on its reputation for innovation, quality and customer satisfaction to create an ever stronger presence in the marketplace.”
Unisys directors said they have begun a search for Coleman’s successor.