First Data, a Fortune 500 payments processor, announced Thursday that CEO Michael Capellas will leave at the end of March after three years to become a senior advisor at the company’s corporate parent, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts.
Capellas's successor will be Joe Forehand, 61, former chairman and CEO of Accenture, who will serve as First Data’s chairman and interim CEO until a permanent CEO is found. Capellas will continue to advise First Data in his new role.
The news of the leadership change came as First Data reported its fourth-quarter financial results. The company earned $530 million in the fourth quarter of 2009, down 18 percent from a year earlier.
KKR purchased First Data in 2007 for $29 billion and installed Capellas as CEO. The company has moved its headquarters back to Atlanta.
The company credited Capellas with helping increase its client base, building alliances with large national and international banks, and moving First Data from an acquisition-focused firm to one concentrating on product development.
“We have made great strides in a difficult economic environment,” Capellas said in a statement. “Markets are made at the bottom, and the accomplishments of the past three years will undoubtedly strengthen our position once the economy recovers.”
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