Absolute Software nominates three new directors, including Art Mesher

Vancouver’s Absolute Software (Absolute Software Stock Quote, Chart, News: TSX:ABT) has a new CEO and its board will likely soon be getting a makeover, too.

The company today announced it has nominated three new directors, Gerhard Watzinger, Josef Vejvoda, and Art Mesher. The proposed changes come after an exhaustive search for a new boss landed former EMC exec Geoff Haydon following the departure of longtime CEO John Livingston last December.

“Absolute Software is leading the development of a rapidly emerging IT category, one that represents the congruence of mobility, security and cloud computing — challenges faced globally by organizations today,” said Haydon. “I am extremely pleased to welcome Gerhard, Art and Josef to the proposed slate of nominee directors. The depth of industry experience represented by these nominees will be invaluable to Absolute as we execute our plan to accelerate growth and strengthen our position as an information security market leader.”

Watzinger recently held positions at McAfee after that company acquired SafeBoot, of which he was CEO. Vejvoda held senior positions in the banking business with Merrill Lynch Canada, Bank of Montreal, National Bank Financial and TD Bank Financial Group.

Mesher is widely considered to be one of the world’s foremost experts in Software-as-a-Service and cloud networks. He founded the logistics strategies services practice at Gartner Group, and applied that knowledge to Waterloo’s Descartes Systems Group, which rose from the brink of bankruptcy to a near billion-dollar market cap under his decade-long guidance, which ended last November.

If the management proposals to the board are endorsed by shareholders at its AGM December 8th, Absolute Software’s board will consist of current chairman Daniel P. Ryan, Eric Rosenfeld, Gregory Monahan, J. Ian Giffen, Sal Visca, Geoff Haydon, plus Watzinger, Mesher,and Vejvoda.

At press time, shares of Absolute Software were up 2.1% to $7.37.