Unisys hopes ex-Gateway chief can turn it around
Struggling IT services company chooses Edward Coleman, a man it says has a long history of transforming troubled tech companies, to take over as chief executive.
Unisys on Tuesday announced that it has named J. Edward Coleman as its new chief executive.
Coleman will take on the roles of chairman and CEO. He replaces Joseph McGrath, who served as CEO for the past three years, and whose departure was announced last month. Henry Duques will step down from his position as chairman of the company's board but will become lead director instead.
In a statement, Unisys touted Coleman as a master of corporate transformations and turnarounds. Most recently, he served as CEO of Gateway for a little more than a year. In that short amount of time, he managed to work out a deal with Acer to buy the troubled PC maker. He has more than 30 years' experience in the IT industry and has held executive positions at CompuCom and Arrow Electronics.
"(Coleman) has a strong track record of helping IT companies successfully narrow their business focus and build on core strengths to drive revenue and earnings growth," Unisys' statement said. "Throughout his career, he has shown himself able to drive change from vision to execution, with a proven focus on operational improvement."
He'll have his work cut out for him. For most of the year, Unisys' stock has stayed below the $5 mark, and the company has faced declining revenues.