LONDON—Shares of Monstermob Group plc plunged more than 21 percent after the ringtone provider ousted founder and Chief Executive Officer Martin Higginson.
Monstermob, which has been on a worldwide spending spree in recent months, lowered forecasts for its U.K. business by $2.8 million as it predicted the division may only break even this year. The announcement followed the company’s acknowledgement in April that it was having difficulty coping with new British regulatory controls.
Higginson had steered the company through several high-profile acquisitions in the last year: Monstermob has spent more than $100 million since last summer to add three Chinese content providers to its portfolio, and in December spent an additional $100 million on Russian content provider Mobicon.
But the company said Higginson was too focused on its U.K. efforts at the expense of businesses elsewhere, according to news reports. Monstermob named Group Managing Director Niccolo de Masi as Higginson’s replacement.
