ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Dick Buell, chairman and chief executive officer of Catalina Marketing Corp., is leaving the company.

Dick Buell, chairman and chief executive officer of Catalina Marketing Corp., is leaving the company.

The shopper and patient marketing and research firm said Monday that George Off, Catalina’s co-founder and former CEO, has been named interim chief executive by the company’s board of directors.

Buell had been with Catalina since 2004.

"The board wishes to thank Dick for his significant contributions to Catalina. Under his leadership, a number of transformational changes delivered a twofold revenue increase," Catalina board members Philip Hammarskjold and Mike O’Brien said in a statement. "We are pleased to welcome George Off back to Catalina, and we look forward to working with him to pursue the company’s vision in the next chapter of Catalina’s expansion."

St. Petersburg, Fla.-based Catalina specializes in providing shopper-driven marketing solutions to retailers, health care providers and consumer packaged goods brand manufacturers. Its media distribution channels include 50,000 food, drug and mass retail locations worldwide, including 18,000 U.S. pharmacies.

"It is an honor to be an active part of Catalina once again, an organization filled with smart, talented and motivated professionals," Off commented. "I am personally confident in the existing, overall strategic direction and am fully committed to continuing the advancement of the impressive performance and innovation delivered in recent years."