After months of upheaval, Imation Corp. appointed board member Robert Fernander to the post of interim CEO, effective immediately.
Fernander, a data storage executive who joined the board in May after a bitter proxy battle, will guide the struggling data storage and data security company until a permanent chief is named.
Fernander succeeds former CEO Mark Lucas, who resigned in September after the May proxy battle that ousted him from the board of directors.
Imation also announced Wednesday that interim President Barry Kasoff has assumed the role of chief restructuring officer. He will continue to work on the plan to exit the tiered storage business and a longtime partnership with the Japan-based electronics firm TDK.
The restructuring plan will result in financial charges up to $160 million and the layoffs of 124 Oakdale workers. Imation wants to become a data security firm and far less dependent on its old business of CDs, DVDs, magnetic tape and other forms of data storage that have become less popular in recent years.
Also on Wednesday, Imation said it would pay $7.5 million to acquire nearly all the equity of Connected Data Inc., an emerging and privately held "cloud sync and share" company.
Imation officials said the company will complete the acquisition through a short-form merger "as soon as practicable." Geoff Barrall, Connected Data's founder and CEO and an Imation board member, will join Imation as its chief technology officer.
Dee DePass • 612-673-7725
