Chairman, prexy of Avid ankle after poor 3rd qtr.

Digidesign's Krall upped, plans to restructure

By MARC GRASER

It was three strikes, you're out at Avid Technology this week as chairman and CEO William Miller and prexy and chief operation officer Clifford Jenks resigned from the editing equipment-maker after it posted its third lackluster quarter in a row.

"Our performance to date in 1999 has obviously been a disappointment," said Avid chief financial officer William Flaherty, who has been tapped acting CEO until a replacement is found. "Our market realities have been changing rapidly, making our current business plan increasingly difficult to achieve."

David Krall, currently chief operating officer at Digidesign, Avid's professional audio subsid, has been upped as Avid's prexy and chief operating officer and will lead a restructuring effort the company plans to detail in the next 30 days. He will report to Flaherty.

Avid also announced that its board of directors has initiated a search for a permanent CEO, which it hopes to complete within three months.

For the period ended Sept. 30, the Massachusetts-based company said it lost $13 million on revenues of $113 million. It generated $116 million in revs during the same period in 1998.

Avid stock dropped 19% or $2.63 on Thursday to close at $11.25, its lowest point in 52 weeks.

Avid's editing hardware, which dominates the film and television-editing arena, features the new NT-based Symphony which costs between $100,000 and $150,000 each. It recently entered the f/x biz after acquiring 3-D animation and f/x software maker Softimage.

"I am proud of what we have accomplished at Avid during the past several years, but the fact is that our plans to grow the business have not been successful," Miller said in a statement. "As Avid seeks to reshape itself for the future, it is appropriate that new leadership take on that task."

Flaherty joined Avid as chief financial officer in 1996.

Krall has held his current position with Digidesign since May 1998 and joined Avid in 1995 as Digidesign's director of program management.