SAM names Eric Cooney as new President and CEO

Cooney was CEO of Tandberg Television, leading its merger with Ericsson Group in 2007. Tim Thorsteinson step down as CEO after two years in role for personal reasons.

Snell Advanced Media (SAM) has appointed Eric Cooney as new President and CEO. Cooney, who has over 20 years of experience in the technology, media and telecommunications (TMT) industry. Tim Thorsteinson step down as CEO after two years in role for personal reasons. He will continue to be involved in an advisory capacity to the Board as part of a succession plan and also remain as a shareholder in SAM.

He was CEO of Tandberg Television, leading its merger with Ericsson Group in 2007 and subsequently resigned to accept the CEO role at NASDAQ-listed IT services provider Internap During his tenure at both businesses he delivered significant increases in value after transforming the strategy, investing in new products, sales and world-class customer support.

“Snell Advanced Media has seen good growth in recent years, in what has been a challenging market impacted by the changing nature of end-user media consumption. This is testament to its commitment to innovation and integration, whilst keeping its customers front and centre. Having demonstrated the ability to adapt and evolve both organically and through M&A activity, this is an exciting time to be joining the group as we look to explore new ways to further drive market share and profitable growth within the media production industry”, says Cooney.

In his role as CEO of SAM, he will continue to drive the growth and development of the group across its core markets and build upon the significant sales growth the business has achieved in the last two years as a result of significant investment in new products, according to SAM.

Headquartered in Newbury, Berkshire, the group employs almost 600 people across offices in Europe, the Americas, the Middle East and Asia Pacific. The group, which recently reported 20% year-on-year growth, is backed by LDC, the private equity arm of Lloyds Banking Group.

“We’d like to thank Tim for his important contribution to the success of Snell Advanced Media during his tenure as CEO. Eric brings a wealth of industry expertise from across the group’s core markets as well as senior leadership experience in some of the sector’s most successful firms. He is ideally placed to lead the team and further build on the business’ successes to date”, says Chris Hurley, Chief Portfolio Officer of LDC. “

Kevan Leggett, Chairman of SAM, commented “Tim has done a fantastic job in first, stabilising the business and then creating and executing a strategy based on significant investment in new product development aligned to enhancing the sales team which has resulted in SAM’s sales growth significantly outperforming the overall market. I have enjoyed working with him and am delighted he remains involved. Eric has a proven track record of significant value creation and can build on the platform Tim has built to continue SAM’s success in the coming years”.