Coriant has returned Pat DiPietro to the role of chief executive officer, effective immediately, and named Cass Traub, a managing director at Coriant investor Oaktree Capital Management, L.P., chairman of the board. The company has also promoted Reza Ghaffari to chief operating officer, a new position within Coriant.
DiPietro and Traub replace now former CEO and Chairman Shaygan Kheradpir. According to Coriant, Kheradpir has stepped down to pursue other opportunities. In 2015, Kheradpir replaced DiPietro after the latter relinquished his duties as president and CEO and returned to being an operating partner at Coriant's majority owner, Marlin Equity Partners (see "Shaygan Kheradpir new Coriant chairman and CEO"). DiPietro has served as vice chairman of the board since Coriant's founding in 2013, and will remain in this position, the optical transport systems vendor says.
"On behalf of the board and the management team, we wish to thank Shaygan for his commitment and many contributions to Coriant over the past three years," said DiPietro. "I'm thrilled to take the helm of Coriant as it transforms to drive new value for its global customers with cost-disruptive innovations in open, software-driven, and revenue-enhancing products and technologies."
"Oaktree remains fully committed to providing both financial and operational support to help take Coriant to the next level of growth," added Traub. "Having successfully overseen the company's founding operations and end-to-end portfolio strategy, Pat brings to his expanded role a deep and comprehensive understanding of Coriant's business and customers. He is the ideal choice to lead Coriant going forward and execute the company's strategic plans for growth and success."
Oaktree made a strategic investment in Coriant in 2017 (see "Marlin Equity Partners makes room for Oaktree Capital on Coriant investor roster").
Ghaffari, meanwhile, will now add responsibility for Coriant's IT, human resources, and facilities functions worldwide to his existing leadership of Coriant's global service and support organization. Ghaffari has a history of accelerating operational improvements and outcome-based results, which will position him to promote additional enhancements in customer support by increasing functional alignment and in-region resources, Coriant asserts.
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