SAN DIEGO, CA (BRAIN) — A management shakeup at Competitor Group, Inc. (CGI) has led to the ouster of Scott Dickey, president and CEO, and Steve Gintowt, chief financial officer. Two executives with extensive financial backgrounds have temporarily replaced them.
Paul Walsh is acting as interim CEO and George Gresham as interim CFO. The company has started an extensive search for replacements. Walsh is currently CGI’s board chairman and Gresham has been working as an advisor to the company.
In mid-November, CGI hired Bill Pedigo as the company’s chief revenue officer. Pedigo, a former senior vice president at AEG, now spearheads CGI’s sales and sponsorship division. AEG is one of the world’s leading sports and entertainment companies.
Calera Capital, a private equity firm with more than $2.8 billion under its management, currently owns CGI. It bought the San Diego company from Falconhead Capital, another private equity firm, in December 2012. One of Calera’s partners, David Lorsch, now at Strava, helped lead the buyout along with Calera’s co-founder James T. Farrell.
CGI is best known in the industry for its ownership of Velo (formerly VeloNews), velonews.com, Inside Triathlon, Triathlete, Women’s Running and Competitor. It also owns the Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon series, the REI Muddy Buddy Series, TriRock Triathlon Series, NFL Run Series and Women’s Running Series.
Dickey and Gintowt were let go last week, but most of CGI’s staff officially learned about their permanent departure Tuesday with the announcement that Walsh and Gresham were temporarily taking on day-to-day financial management.
