I strenuously disagree. According to this profile in the AFR from last year, he has known since at least December 2016 that FXJ was planning to list Domain. At that time he was asked - and he promised - to stick around for another 3 to 4 years. The plans for the spin-off were announced in February 2017.
The reasons he has given for resigning revolve exclusively around family considerations. Can we really believe that the things he has mentioned in this announcement would not already have been obvious considerations for him when he promised to stay for 3-4 years in December 2016? If not, he should have declined to make representations about his commitment - which I would say were highly material to the consideration of shareholders and the broader market during the lead up to the listing, including that takeover period involving TPG and H&F.
I will be thinking about whether to buy this dip, as I do think that Domain has good prospects without Catalano's involvement. However, based on what has been announced this was an unnecessary disruption at best.
He has an (inadequate in my opinion) 12-month non-compete/non-solicitation clause. Watch this space (or maybe the REA forum instead) to see whether his family suddenly becomes more autonomous in the first Q of 2019.
A personalised tool to help users track selected stocks. Delivering real-time notifications on price updates, announcements, and performance stats on each to help make informed investment decisions.
(20min delay)