Endemol Shine Group co-CEO of international operations Gary Carter (pictured) is stepping down less than four months after assuming the role.

He will continue in the position over the forthcoming months as the company searches for a replacement. In the meantime, regional and local CEOs and MDs who report to Carter will continue to lead their respective operations.

“Gary has been very honest in explaining that, though early into our newly-merged business, he has decided that it is not for him and wanted to act now so we can plan for the future accordingly,” CEO Sophie Turner Laing wrote in an email to staff on Wednesday (March 25). “I have greatly valued Gary’s skills and appreciate his work to date in bedding in the new company but I am respectful of his decision and characteristic honesty in wanting to stay now for the benefit of all.”

Carter added that his decision to resign was a personal one.

“In the last three months as the new group formed and the integration gathered momentum it has become clear to me that it is not a long-term home for me personally,” he said. “Having been privileged to have worked for both Endemol and Shine, both formative and happy experiences, the prospect of the merger was always going to be complex and it became clear to me that this is not a context which plays to my professional strengths or personal interests.

“In coming to this conclusion, I felt it was better to say as much now, as to not do so would have been unfair and in my mind unprofessional,” he continued. “I would like to thank Sophie for her understanding and kind words and have assured colleagues I am here to work through the next few months to smooth any transition and minimize any inconvenience to themselves.”

Last year, Rupert Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox and Apollo Global Management finalized the merger between Fox-owned Shine Group and Apollo-controlled Endemol and Core Media Group.

Carter, former Shine chairman for Northern Europe and Shine 360, became co-CEO of international operations alongside Martha Brass  for the new entity. He oversaw Germany, Austria, Switzerland, the Nordics, the Netherlands, Belgium, Russia, Central and Eastern Europe, the MENA region, Turkey and South Africa.