Investor Reps and Independents Form New Dynata Board

First-party data company Dynata has a new Board of Directors, including representatives from investors Bain Capital, BlackRock Financial and First Eagle Investments; and independent directors Mitch Barns, Manish Bhatia and Eric Johnson.

Dynata announced in May that it was entering a prepackaged Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing, supported by investors who now own 100% of its equity after writing down more than half a billion dollars in debt. The firm emerged from the process on schedule in July and said the deal would provide stability for a 36-month 'transformation plan'. The continuation of this plan was part-funded by $81.5 million in financing from a group of institutions led by the above three firms.

The new members join CEO Mike Petrullo on the seven-man Board, with BlackRock Financial's representative Gene Davis serving as Chairman. Davis brings more than forty years of experience in leadership roles across public and private companies in sectors including consumer products and retail. He has served on the boards of organizations such as Aeromexico and Skillsoft Corp, and is currently Chairman and CEO of PIRINATE Consulting Group, LLC, where he focuses on turnaround management and strategic planning for domestic and international clients.

Bain Capital's representative is Mike Bevacqua, a Partner in the Special Situations Group of the firm, which he joined in 1999. He serves on the board of multiple portfolio companies, and is also actively involved in mentoring emerging leaders. Prior to Bain Capital he worked at First Union (now Wachovia) Capital Markets and NationsBanc (now Bank of America) Capital Markets. He was also an officer in the United States Marine Corps from 1988 to 1992.

Christian Champ, representing First Eagle, is an advisor and executive coach with more than twenty years' experience, who most recently co-led the Fundamentals business at Reorg Research, and has also served as Portfolio Manager and Head of Credit at First Eagle Alternative Credit (formerly THL Credit).

Barns spent twenty years at Nielsen, the last five of them as CEO, during which time the company acquired 26 businesses. Earlier he held leadership roles across all major parts of the group, including President, Global Client Service; President of the US Media arm; President of Greater China; and President of the BASES analytic consulting division. Before this, he spent twelve years in marketing research and brand management positions at Procter & Gamble. He currently serves on the boards of Kynetec, Consumer Edge and QualSights.

Bhatia brings more than a quarter century of experience in analyzing consumer and advertising trends across digital and linear media. At Kantar Media he was CEO of North America and then Chief Global Growth and Product Officer. Earlier he worked as comScore's Chief Product Officer; EVP, New Product Innovation at Arbitron; CEO of Symphony Advanced Media, and he spent 21 years at Nielsen, latterly as President of its Advanced Digital Services team, which focuses on set-top box analytics and insights. He has also served on a number of boards, including NinthDecimal, a mobile location-based measurement company.

Johnson was appointed CIO of Pager Duty in September last year, and leads the company's technology vision and strategic initiatives in data management, generative AI, business applications and automation. Earlier he was CIO at SurveyMonkey (whose current CEO's name he coincidentally shares), CIO and SVP at both DocuSign and Talend, and spent a dozen years in IT strategy and SaaS infrastructure management at Informatica.

Petrullo says each new director has 'a proven record of accomplishment in fostering business growth, strategic leadership and, in many cases, a deep understanding of the media, insights and analytics landscape'. He continues: 'The Dynata Board of Directors will be invaluable in guiding our strategic direction as we continue to advance our mission and further solidify Dynata's position as the unmatched leader in first-party data for insights, activation, and measurement'.

Web site: www.dynata.com .

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.