PEXA appoints Russell Cohen as PEXA Group MD & CEO

Melbourne, Australia: The PEXA Group Ltd (ASX: PXA) (PEXA or Group) Board of Directors today announced the appointment of Russell Cohen as Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer (Group MD & CEO) effective from 31 March, 2025.

Mr Cohen is currently the Group Managing Director of Operations at multinational technology company Grab, leading business performance, operations, platform safety, market expansion and a team of 3000 across seven countries. He has also played a pivotal role in that company’s strategic growth throughout the region.

Before joining Grab, Mr Cohen served as Board Director and Vice President of Business Development and Corporate Strategy at SoftBank C&S in Tokyo, a role he assumed after SoftBank’s acquisition of Brightstar Corp. At Brightstar, he was Regional Managing Director for Asia, overseeing nine markets, and founded the company’s Greater China operations in Hong Kong.

PEXA Group Chair Mark Joiner said the appointment of Mr Cohen, a seasoned Asia Pacific tech executive, followed a rigorous external search process to appoint a leader who would build on the progress achieved by the company over the past five years under the leadership of Mr Glenn King.

“Mr Cohen is a dynamic leader and seasoned executive with deep expertise in scaling platform businesses. He has achieved strong commercial transformation across multiple countries, with market leader Grab,” Mr Joiner said. “In our search for our new Group MD and CEO, we focussed on selecting a candidate with clear strategic capabilities, a track record in commercial performance and innovation, deep regulatory and industry engagement, and a strong people and customer focus.”

Commenting on his appointment, Mr Cohen said he was excited to be part of an organisation which is transforming the property market.

“PEXA has significant opportunities ahead to leverage its core strength as a platform and digital solutions business. My ambition is to create sustainable value for shareholders, customers, employees and other stakeholders through disciplined strategic execution and clear focus on returns,” Mr Cohen said. “I’m pleased to return to my hometown of Melbourne to join the team and work with the leadership in Australia and the UK. PEXA’s future is an exciting one and I look forward to building on the solid strategic foundations established under Glenn’s leadership.”

Mr Cohen will succeed Mr King who will step down from his role on 28 February 2025, following the release of the Group’s results for the half year ended 31 December 2024. Mr King will assist through Mr Cohen’s transition in an advisory capacity up until the end of June 2025. PEXA Group Chief Financial Officer Scott Butterworth will assume the role of Acting Group MD and CEO from 1 March to 31 March 2025.

Mr Joiner thanked Mr King, who joined PEXA as Group MD and CEO in November 2019. “On behalf of the PEXA Board, I wish to extend our sincere gratitude to Glenn for his passionate stewardship of our company. Glenn successfully led the growth of our core Exchange business, which now has around 90 per cent national coverage and is a critical part of Australia’s property ecosystem. He guided PEXA through its listing on the Australian stock exchange in 2021 and has since overseen the establishment of PEXA’s growth business and expansion into the UK, including several strategic acquisitions. We wish Glenn well in his next chapter.”

About Russell Cohen

Russell Cohen is a seasoned technology executive with more than 20 years of experience driving growth in the mobile, telecom and software industries across Asia Pacific. He has an accomplished record of revenue growth and operational execution, product development and market entry. He has spearheaded business transformation, M&A and IPO readiness with a proven ability to build and nurture high performance teams.

He is currently Group Managing Director of Operations at technology company Grab, Southeast Asia’s leading super app, which provides millions of users with mobility, delivery and digital financial solutions. Based in Singapore, Mr Cohen leads teams in seven countries across the region, leading business performance, operations, platform safety and market expansion.

During his tenure, Grab has achieved market leadership in mobility and food delivery while fostering deeper partnerships with merchants, drivers and governments. He also played a pivotal role in significant corporate initiatives, including Grab’s acquisition of Uber’s Southeast Asia business in 2018 and the establishment of the GrabForGood Fund in 2021, a flagship initiative to deliver positive social impact across the region.

Before joining Grab, Mr Cohen served as Board Director and Vice President of Business Development & Corporate Strategy at SoftBank C&S in Tokyo, a role he assumed after SoftBank’s acquisition of Brightstar Corp. At Brightstar, he was Regional Managing Director for Asia, overseeing nine markets, and founded the company’s Greater China operations in Hong Kong.

Earlier in his career, Mr Cohen worked at Telstra Corp. in Australia.

He is also a Non-Executive-Director for Quantiful in NZ, a social and predictive AI tech firm building demand planning tools.

He holds a Master of Information Technology from the University of Melbourne and a Bachelor of Commerce (Accounting & Finance) from Monash University.