Activist investor Petrus Advisers is amping up the pressure on banking software maker Temenos AG, calling on the chairman and chief executive officer to resign and the rest of the supervisory board to start a strategic review including a potential sale.

Max Chuard “is far out of his depth in a CEO role and should be terminated with immediate effect” and Chairman Andreas Andreades should resign from the company, the fund said a letter to Temenos’s board of non-executive directors dated Nov. 8 and seen by Bloomberg News.

The fund also asked Temenos’s board to “immediately launch a comprehensive strategic review” that includes an assessment of the leadership as well as the company’s strategy and its execution. Temenos also needs to work on a credible business plan and consider potential take-private offers or strategic sale options, the fund added.

“Now is your last chance to bring the ship in order and on course,” the letter said. Petrus said it was shocked to see the extent of Temenos profit warning last month as a few weeks earlier the CEO had told the fund that the firm’s guidance was “easily achievable.”

A representative for Temenos said in an emailed statement that the company engages with all shareholders and welcomes all feedback. Its board is focused on the current business and addressing the sales execution issues Petrus has highlighted, they said. “There is an annual review of strategy ongoing and Temenos will provide an update in due course,” the representative said.

The shares gained as much as 2.8% on Wednesday and closed up 1.5% in Zurich.

The stock has slumped 52% this year after taking a beating last month when the company cut its guidance for software license growth because of delays in completing large contracts. Temenos said software licenses will fail to grow this year, compared with a previous estimate of growth of as much as 18%.

The firm’s largest shareholder, the holding company of Martin Ebner, at the time told Bloomberg News it’s been “very concerned about the share price decline.”

Petrus first revealed a stake in Temenos early last month, calling for a more credible plan to turn around the software maker.

“For us, the question remains whether a management change and a strategy review can quickly lead to a structural improvement,” ZKB analyst Andreas Mueller wrote in a note.

Temenos had received buyout interest from private equity suitors including EQT late last year, but nothing materialized.

–By Eyk Henning (Bloomberg)

–With assistance from Allegra Catelli and Jan-Henrik Förster.