Graham Sherren, chairman and founder of Centaur Media, will leave his post following the company’s annual general meeting later in the year.
The board of the business publisher, which produces titles including The Lawyer, Marketing Week and New Media Age, will appoint senior non-executive director, Patrick Taylor, as Sherren’s replacement.
Sherren, who started Centaur in 1981 and has been chairman since relinquishing the role of chief executive in 2006, intends to stay on the Centaur board as a non-executive director for a further 12 months.
Taylor’s appointment will be formally proposed at the AGM on 10 December.
Sherren said: “When Centaur listed on the Stock Exchange in 2004, a key objective for me, as chairman and chief executive, was to plan an orderly management succession.
“I was pleased to hand over to Geoff Wilmot as chief executive officer in 2006 and I believe that he and the management team at Centaur have done an excellent job since that time.
“In December I reach the age of 72 and in the past few weeks I have been discussing with the board my decision that it is now the right time for me also to step down as chairman.”
Shares in Centaur surged earlier this week after the publisher rejected an approach from Critical Information Group to buy the company.
Centaur said it turned down the bid as the proposal undervalued the company.
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