One of the most colourful figures in the industry, Tim Thorsteinson, is set to return to prominence with a major manufacturer. He is likely to be made a director of leading supplier of graphics, branding and infrastructure Miranda. The announcement from Miranda follows a period of speculation about changes in the board of directors, being driven by two of the major institutional shareholders. The pressure on Miranda’s management comes despite the company delivering strong growth and healthy margins. Miranda has now announced that existing Director Thomas Cantwell will stand down, with Thorsteinson nominated to take his place. If he is to be elected to the board it will take place at the company’s AGM scheduled to take place on 17 April, which is during the NAB exhibition. Miranda Chairman Brian Edwards said: “Mr Thorsteinson brings deep industry knowledge, which will contribute to expanding on our successful growth strategies”. Thorsteinson became one of the best known and most lively CEOs when he ran first Tektronix then Grass Valley. Having integrated Grass Valley into Thomson he moved on to Leitch, where again he negotiated its acquisition by Harris. He took over as head of the Harris broadcast division until 2009. Currently he is CEO of Enablence Technologies, which specialises in components for high bandwidth fibre optic networks. This announcement follows closely on the heels of Miranda’s appointment of another extremely well known Grass Valley figure. Scott Murray, who was until recently the VP of production systems at Grass Valley, is now head of the multiviewers division. This is a clear sign that Miranda is strengthening its product teams ahead of a further period of growth and a desire to move from a point product supplier to a solutions company.
