The Afterpay Touch Group Ltd (ASX: APT) share price has risen 3.4% in early trade in response to the company’s Board update.
Afterpay Touch is the owner of the popular “buy now, pay later” app. As of early 2019, Afterpay had over 4 million registered users worldwide, making it one of Australia’s true technology success stories.
Afterpay’s Board Update
Afterpay has made a few changes to reflect the fact that it is changing from an Australian start-up business to becoming a maturing global business. It’s making important organisational and governance changes to support its strategy.
Afterpay Board
Afterpay is transitioning to a majority independent Board with an independent Chairman, so the company is conducting a global search for (at least) two additional independent directors that will complement the skill set of the existing directors and reflect the global outlook of Afterpay.
Co-founder Anthony Eisen will take on the role of CEO and Managing Director immediately to manage the company’s operations. Elana Rubin will assume the role of Interim Chair until a permanent one can be appointed.
Co-founder Nick Molnar will continue the focus on developing the Afterpay global platform and become the Global Chief Revenue Officer, with a particular focus on the US business and global merchant relationships.
David Hancock’s role as ‘Group Head’ will come to an end and help the transition of CEO and Managing Director for up to 12 months.
Afterpay Global Chief Operating Officer
Frerk-Malte Feller has been appointed as the newly-created Global Chief Operating Officer, who has worked at eBay and PayPal, as well as HP and Zipcar.
Afterpay Management Comments
Afterpay Co-founder Anthony Eisen said: “The proposed changes will enhance our governance and appropriately position the business and its leadership team to continually innovate and fully realise the global opportunity before us.
“We feel privileged to have a strong leadership team that continues to expand, providing the company with the necessary skills across a range of important disciplines which are essential to the company’s future success.”
Is Afterpay A Buy?
These appointments and movements certainly make sense. The bigger Afterpay becomes, the more complex running a company becomes, which is why delegating to highly-qualified people is a good idea.
I’m unsure that buying Afterpay today is a good idea. Visa, MasterCard, PayPal are all working on payment instalment options for customers. I’m not sure if Afterpay will be able to stand up to the fierce competition. It depends how loyal its customers are and strong its brand is. Afterpay is priced for a lot of success, but I’m not sure if it’s as likely as the market is suggesting.
I think the ASX growth shares in the free report below are much better priced opportunities for the next couple of years.
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