EidosMedia founding partner Gabriella Franzini will devote more time to voluntary organisations including Pangea Foundation following her retirement 17 years after its establishment.

The company says the managing director of its German subsidiary, Holger Hofmann will step in as acting chief executive a new appointment is being finalised, with an announcement expected in the next few weeks. Her retirement, agreed and planned over the last few months, will take effect from the end of the year.

Franzini has led the Milan-based software company since its creation in 1999, following 15 years at Unisys, where she rose to marketing director. Developer of the Méthode content management platform, EidosMedia has grown under her leadership to become a global supplier of digital publishing solutions to some of the world's largest news-media organisations, notably News Corp which uses Méthode in Australia, the UK and US.

"It's been an extraordinary adventure, and I'd like to thank all those colleagues who have shared the vision we had over a decade and a half ago and who have worked to make it a reality," she says.

"EidosMedia has played an important role in making digital technology work for many news and financial organisations and I believe that it has an exciting future in extending this mission to other sectors and markets."

She plans to devote more time to her family and her work with voluntary organisations including the Pangea Foundation, a charity which helps women in Afghanistan, India and Italy and of which EidosMedia has been a supporter.

EidosMedia chairman Didier Bench thanked her for the "unique role" she played in the creation and success of the company: "We wish her all the best in her future activities."

Pictured: Gabriella Franzini joins Pangea workers in a message of thanks to EidosMedia