ServiceMaster CEO Nik Varty leaves

  • Push-out Score determined
  • After about two and a half years in the position
  • Praise and thanks for Varty
  • Naren Gursahaney taking over in the interim
  • Search for a successor
  • Varty kept it short and said 56 words

(exechange) — Memphis, Tennessee, January 21, 2020 — This news came the day after Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. Nik Varty, chief executive of ServiceMaster, leaves. As announced by ServiceMaster Global Holdings Inc. in a news release and in a regulatory filing published on Tuesday, January 21, 2020, Nikhil M. (Nik) Varty leaves his post as chief executive officer at the provider of termite and pest control after about two and a half years in the role, effective immediately.

Among the 3,000 largest publicly held companies incorporated in the U.S. based on market capitalization, the average tenure of the CEOs who announced their departure over the past 12 months was 7.5 years, according to data compiled by exechange. On an accumulated basis, around 27% of the CEOs who announced their departure over the past 12 months left their posts within three years.

ServiceMaster will undertake a search for a successor.

Nik Varty’s duties as CEO will be taken over in the interim by Naren K. Gursahaney, currently Chairman of the Board of ServiceMaster Global Holdings Inc., as interim Chief Executive Officer.

“To pursue other opportunities”

Nik Varty’s departure from the CEO post is explained as follows. ServiceMaster said: “ServiceMaster Global Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: SERV), a leading provider of essential services to residential and commercial customers in the termite, pest control, cleaning and restoration markets, today announced it will explore strategic alternatives for its ServiceMaster Brands business, including a potential sale of the segment. The Company also announced today that Naren Gursahaney, current Chairman of the Board, has been named as interim Chief Executive Officer of ServiceMaster, effective immediately. He succeeds Nik Varty, who has stepped down as CEO and Board member to pursue other opportunities.”

Precise information regarding Nik Varty’s future plans was not immediately available.

“Resigned”

ServiceMaster said: “Nikhil M. Varty resigned from his position as Chief Executive Officer and as a member of the Board of Directors of the Company (the “Board”), in each case, effective as of January 21, 2020 (the “Resignation Date”). Mr. Varty will continue to remain an employee of the Company in the role of Executive Advisor from the Resignation Date through February 29, 2020 (the “Separation Date”).”

Share price decline

The announcement follows a decline in ServiceMaster Global Holdings Inc.’s share price of 33% since October 2019.

In the position of CEO since 2017

Nik Varty became CEO of the Company in 2017.

Varty will continue to assist ServiceMaster’s management team and Board of Directors in an advisory role to ensure a smooth transition.

Varty has served as ServiceMaster’s Chief Executive Officer and a director since July 2017.

From 2012 until 2016, Varty served as president of the Americas and global vice president of mergers & acquisitions at WABCO Holdings Inc., a leading global supplier of electronic, mechanical, electro-mechanical and aerodynamic products for the major manufacturers of commercial trucks, buses, trailers and passenger cars.

From 2005 through 2012, Varty served as vice president and business unit leader for WABCO’s compression & braking business unit in Brussels, Belgium.

Push-out Score determined

The Push-out Score™ determined by exechange gauges the pressure surrounding the management change on a scale of 0 to 10.

exechange reached out to ServiceMaster and offered the company the opportunity to comment on the score.

Read the full story in the exechange report 4.2020 ($).