Less than a year after its last change of leadership, British software giant Micro Focus International plc is again appointing a new chief executive.

The company announced today that it’s tapped Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co. veteran Chris Hsu to take over the reins. His hiring comes hot on the heels of Micro Focus revealing plans to merge with HPE’s software business in a complex $8.8 billion deal structured as a Reverse Morris Trust. Under the agreement, the British firm is set to absorb some 14,000 employees along with a broad product lineup that includes the widely used Autonomy family of analytics tools.

The assets that Micro Focus is gaining as part of the merger are expected to account for the bulk of its revenue following the deal’s completion. Coupled with the fact that HPE shareholders will receive a 50.1 percent stake in the combined company, it’s no wonder Hsu has been brought aboard.

Hsu joined HP Inc. in 2014 to help orchestrate its split into and went to assume the role of chief operating officer at the newly independent enterprise technology business last August. Since then, he has been playing a central part in HPE’s push to offload its non-core divisions. Hsu dropped by SiliconANGLE’s theCube a few months ago to discuss one of the effort’s more ambitious components, the merger of the company’s professional services arm with CSC (video below).

In addition to holding the top operations post at HPE, Hsu also served as the head of its software business, which gives him direct knowledge of the assets that Micro Focus is gaining as part of the merger. 

Hsu’s appointment marks the first in a series of management shake-ups that are set to take place as part of the transaction. He will replace Stephen Murdoch, who was tapped to lead Micro Focus last February and will assume the role of chief operating office once Hsu takes over. The company said that it reveal additional leadership and board changes in the third quarter of this year.

Micro Focus will probably need to accommodate a substantial number of executives from HPE’s software business given the outsized role that it will take in the combined company. The current management roster can be expected to undergo major changes as a result, but at least two key figures will retain their positions. Micro Focus has divulged that executive chairman Kevin Loosemore will remain in his post until at least April 2018 while Nils Brauckmann, who heads its SUSE Linux subsidiary, is staying as well.

Image via theCUBE