MindTree appoints Albert Hieronimus as new Chairman

"In line with good governance practices, we are segregating the roles of the chairman of the board and the company's CEO and MD. MindTree is fortunate to have Albert in its journey ahead. He is a businessman of international stature," MindTree CEO and MD Krishnakumar Natarajan said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange.

We will work together very effectively to take MindTree to greater heights and make it a truly memorable company, he added. In January this year, Ashok Soota had resigned as the executive chairman of the company to pursue a new business venture.

Soota's resignation came as a shocker not just for the company, but the IT industry in general, when the MindTree co-founder said he was quitting due to "personal reasons". He was relieved of his duties on March 31, 2011.

His resignation had raised questions over the company's future, but Natarajan said that all was well at the firm despite Soota's departure. MindTree offers IT services, product engineering services, independent testing and infrastructure management, and technical support.

Hieronimus, who has served as an independent director at MindTree since 2006, was previously working as the chairman of Bosch. He is a member of the Strategic Initiatives Committee, Audit Committee and chairman of the Investor Grievances Committee of the Board, apart from being the Lead Independent Director, MindTree said.

Founded by former Wipro leaders like Soota and Subroto Bagchi in 1999, the IT and product engineering services firm had posted a 43.27 per cent year-on-year decline in net profit at Rs 30.5 crore for Q3 FY'11 from Rs 53.77 crore in the same quarter previous fiscal.

Mindtree had acquired Kyocera India's R&D centre in October, 2009, to work on IPR in the 4G wireless long-term evolution wireless infrastructure and 3G smartphones space. However, a year later, the company said it would convert that business into R&D services for network infrastructure and handset firms. MindTree shares were trading at Rs 409.50 apiece on the BSE at 1230 hours, up 4.20 per cent from their previous close.