Dubai’s OSN appoints interim chief after CEO Patrick Tillieux resigns

Dubai-based entertainment platform OSN has confirmed that its CEO Patrick Tillieux has resigned and is leaving the company for personal reasons.

Tillieux took on the role in November 2018.

OSN has appointed Sangeeta Desai as the interim chief executive, effective immediately, it said in a statement on Monday.

Desai has served as a non-executive director on OSN’s board for over a year.

Most recently, she served as the group COO and CEO of Emerging Markets at Fremantle, and prior to that she was COO of Hit Entertainment.

Desai has also worked with Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan and Apax Partners.

Faisal Al Ayyar, chairman of OSN (Panther Media Group) said: “Sangeeta Desai has a proven track record in successfully leading large-scale company transformations, scaling businesses, navigating disruption, and growing global brands.”

OSN has seen strong growth in the last 18 months, since the outbreak of Covid-19 altered entertainment consumption habits.

In 2020, the company saw more than five million downloads of its streaming platform, Tillieux told Gulf Business earlier this month.

Read: Five minutes with Patrick Tillieux, CEO of OSN

OSN, which currently serves as the exclusive distributor of Walt Disney’s new Disney+ Originals in the Middle East, has partnerships with several studios including HBO, NBC Universal, Fox, Paramount, MGM, and Sony.

It offers content in Arabic, English and Filipino.