UK accountancy software firm Pegasus Group Plc, Kettering, Northamptonshire, which reinstated Jonathan Hubbard-Ford (forced out last October) as chief executive after shareholders demanded a management shake-up, hopes that it is now back on an even keel. The clash of boardroom personalities began after Pegasus bought the rights to Sequel, a Microsoft Corp FoxPro-based accounting product from Pegasus spin-out Sequel Systems Ltd late last year. The Pegasus board refused to ship Sequel source code to developers until its own shrink-wrapped version of the software was finished – delayed further while awaiting new European Economic Community value-added tax regulations to come into force in the New Year. Hubbard-Ford wanted to get code to resellers early to maintain good relations with Pegasus’s third party base, but his arguments were overruled and dismissal followed. Angry Pegasus resellers urged shareholders to call an emergency general meeting to examine the company’s management style, calling for the reinstatement of Hubbard-Ford. Shareholders subsequently asked the board to reconsider its decisions or step down. Hubbard-Ford has taken a seat on the board alongside Pegasus managing director James Minotto. Only two members of the original board remain – non-executive Philip Sellars and Advent Group Plc’s Neil Pearce (Advent holds a 20% stake in Pegasus). Other directors will be appointed from within the company, Pegasus says. Pegasus will now drastically cut costs across the company, according to Minotto, and it has suspended is quest for acquisitions until further notice. The company now plans to launch an MS-DOS Sequel product later in the year – and a Unix version follows in early 1994, it says.
