Chicago-based Heidrick & Struggles (HSII 3.25%) needs a new CEO.
For weeks, rumors have swirled that Heidrick was on the block for possible sale to a new owner. Those rumors were squashed Monday, however, when the executive-search firm simultaneously announced that (a) it has decided to pursue a "stand-alone strategy," and (b) that Chief Executive Officer L. Kevin Kelly is leaving the company. (The company also had some good news -- revenues for the fiscal second quarter look to be close to the high point of its previously announced $110 million-to-$120 million range.)
Now, interim CEO Jory Marino, formerly regional leader for the Americas business unit, must guide the company forward. Heidrick believes Marino is the right exec for the job, boasting "25 years of executive search experience" and being "widely recognized as an authority on leadership and talent within the financial services industry."
Investors don't seem as sure. Good-bad-bad news of the revenue beat, refusal to seek a buyout premium from a merger partner, and loss of the CEO is so far working out to about an 11% decline in stock price at Heidrick, which was last spotted trading around $15.90 per share in the after-hours.
