Leadership changes at top mainland software company Founder are expected to be announced soon, according to sources. The company has seen weeks of internal wrangling over corporate restructuring and strategies to turn around the loss-making group. The company's two primary founders, Wang Xuan and Cheung Yuk-fung, who are at loggerheads over the future of the company, are to step down at the same time, following intervention by Peking University, Founder's ultimate parent, the sources said. The university's executive vice-president, Min Weifang, is expected to replace Mr Wang as chairman of Founder (Hong Kong), the company's Hong Kong-listed subsidiary, while Su Dongpo, another senior university official, is set to take over from Mr Cheung as chairman of the holding company, Peking University Founder Group. Sources said a formal announcement was expected soon after the National Day holidays, which run the whole of this week. Further reshuffles of other officials at the holding company and at the Hong Kong-listed arm could not be ruled out, sources said. Officials from the companies were not available for comment yesterday. The departure of both Mr Wang and Mr Cheung is expected to create short-term uncertainties for the group and the Hong Kong arm, which last month reported a first-half loss of $105.87 million. Last year, Founder (Hong Kong) made a net loss of $165.69 million. Mr Wang, 62, is the public face of the company and helped to write software that launched Founder at the forefront of the mainland's high-technology industry. But his critics blame Mr Wang for the company's recent downturn. Mr Cheung, who tends to keep a low profile, was in control of the company's purse strings. Sources said the two disagreed over a number of significant issues. Their departure has come at a time when the troubled group is undertaking corporate and asset restructuring to position itself for the fast-growing mainland Internet market. Two weeks ago, Founder Group announced an agreement with Yahoo! to launch a Chinese-language portal Web site aimed at the mainland's growing population of Web surfers. Founder and Yahoo! have since said there were still 'grey areas' to be worked out with the mainland government on the legality of the new joint venture.