MeridianLink Inc., which provides software platforms for customers including credit unions, community banks and consumer reporting agencies, will be getting a new chief executive this fall.
President Larry Katz will assume the additional role of chief executive following what the company called the “planned departure” of CEO Nicolaas Vlok, effective Oct. 1.
Incoming CEO
MeridianLink
During the transition, Katz is working closely with Vlok, who will remain a member of the company’s board and a “significant shareholder” in the company. According to the latest proxy, he owns about 2.8 million shares, worth around $46 million at press time (NYSE: MLNK).
The announcement was made on May 12, the same day that the Costa Mesa company reported first quarter revenue increased 5% to $81.5 million. Its adjusted EBITDA climbed 9.4% to $34.8 million.
MeridianLink was acquired in 2018 by private equity firm Thoma Bravo, which still owns about 37.5% of the shares. Vlok, who has served as director on companies owned by Thoma Bravo, joined MeridianLink’s board of directors in 2018 and became CEO in 2019, taking over for co-founder Tim Nguyen.
“We’ve accomplished a lot over the last years, expanding the business meaningfully, growing revenue from approximately $150 million in 2019 to $330 million at the midpoint of guidance for 2025,” Vlok said in a statement. “We shifted our solutions from on-premise to the cloud, and established our platform, MeridianLink One, as the market leader today.”
He took the company public in 2021 at $26 share, which raised $260 million in an upsized offering. Since then, the shares have hovered under $20; at press time, they traded at $16.47 and a $1.3 billion market cap.
In the past two years, Vlok’s total compensation has totaled $22.3 million, mostly in stock awards.
Katz Joined as CFO Last Year
While sales popped about 75% from 2019 to 2021, they have notably slowed in recent years: from 7.6% growth in 2022 to a 4.2% increase in 2024. Analysts are predicting that MeridianLink’s sales will grow 4.1% this year to $329.2 million, followed by a 5.9% increase in 2026.
Katz joined MeridianLink in early 2024 as chief financial officer and was promoted to president later that year.
Before MeridianLink, Katz held a range of leadership positions in strategy, sales, product, operations and finance at StubHub, Genesys, JPMorgan Chase and Disney.
The company, which has nearly 700 employees, on May 12 also announced three other key changes.
Troy Coggiola, who was named MeridianLink chief strategy officer (CSO), previously served in top executive roles at Ellie Mae (now ICE Mortgage Technology) and at Accela.
Kayla Dailey, general counsel, has taken on the additional title and role of chief administrative officer (CAO).
The title of Nguyen, who co-founded MeridianLink in 1998, has changed from chief strategy officer to strategic advisor.
MeridianLink, which has about 2,000 customers, remains upbeat about the future.
“While the current economic environment comes with uncertainties, we continue to see great interest from our customers to meet their changing demands,” a company spokesperson told the Business Journal on May 21.
More Changes at Top OC Tech Companies
Synoptek, an IT systems integrator and managed services provider, said last month that long-time CEO Tim Britt was stepping down from his role as chief executive and will serve as executive chairman. Salil Godika, previously CEO of Synoptek India, has been appointed as the new chief executive officer of the Irvine-based company.
Irvine-based chipmaker Skyworks Solutions Inc. (Nasdaq: SWKS) said in February it had appointed Philip Brace as its new CEO and president, succeeding Liam Griffin in those roles. Skyworks is the fourth largest publicly listed company based in Orange County.
In October of last year, Peter Krauss took over as CEO and president of Irvine-based small-satellite maker Terran Orbital Corp., a part of aerospace and defense giant Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT).
