The CEO of Auction Technology Group is to step down after more than a decade in the role.
John-Paul Savant (pictured) will leave the group, which owns 10 marketplaces and connects auction houses with bidders globally, after a short handover period.
ATG, which also announced its half-year results this morning, said its board is at an advanced stage of its process to appoint a successor.
The London-listed firm recently rejected a remarkable 12 takeover bids from its largest shareholder FitzWalter Capital, the latest for £491 million.
FitzWalter, headquartered in London, slammed the company for failing to grant it access to conduct due diligence and accused the ATG board of ‘extreme value destruction’.
ATG had been seeking instead to dispose of its industrial and commercial division (I&C) business, which enables the sale of machinery such as tractors and was responsible for circa 45% of its FY25 profits. FitzWalter had slammed the decision to not run a formal sales process around the disposal.
ATG recently confirmed that it had received preliminary expressions of interest to acquire the division, but that these did not progress beyond initial discussions.
FitzWalter has also criticised ATG’s $100m acquisition of US marketplace Chairish, highlighting $15m of transaction and integration costs and renewing its view that the deal damaged shareholder value.
This morning ATG said it expects to report revenue of $125m for the six-month period ended 31st March 2026, in line with guidance set out in November 2025 and also with market expectations.
“Chairish continued to deliver good pro forma constant currency revenue growth in the period, with operational synergies also remaining on track to deliver an annual run rate of $8m by FY27,” it stated.
On Savant’s departure, chair Scott Forbes commented: “On behalf of the board, I would like to extend our appreciation to John-Paul for his tenure during which he architected the combination of brands serving curated secondary goods markets in the arts & antiques and industrial & commercial goods segments.
“He has built a capable team and ATG has a solid foundation of buyers and sellers and an increasingly robust platform for the development of uniquely efficient online marketplaces serving auction and list price buyers and sellers.
“The board’s CEO search process focused on identifying and securing a candidate with a strong commercial and operational track record as well as considerable marketplace, ecommerce and public company leadership experience. We are confident in being able to secure a strong replacement.
“In the meantime, we are confident that the group has good strategic and trading momentum, which will be maintained in the transition period.”
Savant said: “It has been a pleasure to lead ATG for over the last 10 years, taking the group from revenue of c.$20m to around $250m in FY26 through building leading marketplace brands.
“The group has a strong market position, a team with excellent foundational capabilities and a platform for further profitable growth. As a significant shareholder with a long term belief in ATG I will be an interested observer in its future success.”