Synovate Global CEO Leaves Following Acquisition

Synovate CEO Robert Philpott has left his job as part of a management restructure, following Ipsos' recent acquisition of the firm. It is not yet known what his next career move will be.

Ipsos completed its acquisition of Synovate for £528.8m last month, to form the third largest market research company in the world.

As part of the integration of the two firms, Philpott (pictured) has left Synovate after a 15-year career with the company. He became Global CEO in 2009, having previously served in various roles across the Americas, Western Europe and Asia Pacific.

Ben Page, who remains in post as CEO of Ipsos MORI in the UK, told DRNO that as part of the move to integrate the two firms, around 40% of the combined firm's country management roles have been offered to senior Synovate personnel. Most of these positions are yet to be officially confirmed.

'The key to this is to get the right people from both firms in place', Page explained.

Earlier this month, Ipsos announced that Alick Zhou would continue in his role as CEO of Ipsos in Greater China, with responsibility for both the Ipsos and Synovate businesses until the end of the year, following which he will lead the combined company in the region.

Since then, those Ipsos staff who have been confirmed in post include:

• Lifeng Liu, who continues as CEO of Asia Pacific, supported by South East Asia Regional Director Grant Bertoli and David Richardson as the lead in North-East Asia
• Shane Farrell, who stays on as CEO of EMEA, supported by Dean Luker who will lead Western Europe and Edouard Monin who manages the Middle East and North Africa region
• Jim Smith remains as CEO of Ipsos in North America, supported by Gonzalo Santamarina in South America and Alain Rozenfeld in the Caribbean and Central America.

Additionally, Roger Steadman, former Chairman of the Steadman Group (acquired by Synovate in 2008), will now work alongside Ipsos' David Somers as Joint Manager for Sub-Saharan Africa.

Finally, Page confirmed that Synovate's Peter Hujiboom, who was previously CEO for Europe and Latin America; and Scott Miller, formerly CEO for North America, have been offered alternative posts at Ipsos.

Web site: www.ipsos.com .