Lynn Lyall took over from Mary Chowning on 3 March 2008. And while Chowning stayed on until 15 April to smooth the transition, X-Rite announced today (15 May) Lyall had "left the company for personal reasons".

X-Rite has appointed Dave Rawden as interim chief financial officer and maintained the personnel move would not disrupt "ongoing talks with lenders or investors".

Chief executive Thomas J Vacchiano said that he led and would continue to lead negotiations with lenders, alongside the company's financial partner RBC Capital.

The business is currently in discussion with lenders seeking to agree new terms after defaulting on a number of financial covenants against its secured credit facilities, "secured by essentially all of the tangible and intangible assets of the company", according to a recent SEC filing.

An analyst at Sidoti & Company, which covers X-Rite, declined to comment on the situation.

Tom Vacchiano insisted: "We continue to work diligently with our lenders to address our recent covenant defaults and believe that we will have sufficient cash flow to operate our business and make our scheduled interest payments."