A longtime high-ranking executive for BrightPoint Inc. in Indianapolis will resign effective Jan. 18, three months after California-based Ingram Micro Inc. acquired the company.

J. Mark Howell, who became president of the company's North American region after BrightPoint merged into Santa Ana-based Ingram in October, resigned to “pursue personal interests,” Ingram said in a prepared statement.

He leaves after 18 years in upper management at BrightPoint, which provides logistics and distribution services to the mobile technology industry.

A golden parachute clause in Ingram’s $840 million acquisition agreement provided Howell with approximately $6.7 million as he and five other executives split $30.7 million in payouts.

Bashar Nejdawi will step into Howell’s position, the company said.

Nejdawi has most recently been the senior vice president of corporate strategic initiatives and partnerships for BrightPoint and Ingram Micro Mobility. He began working for the company in 2008 as president of the mobile enhancement business.

Howell’s departure comes as Ingram determines how BrightPoint, with its focus on logistics services for handheld mobile device companies, will fit into the operations of its new, much larger parent, which focuses on broader IT services.

Before the merger, BrightPoint had 4,000 employees worldwide, with 1,100 people in central Indiana.

Ingram has remained silent on possible layoffs. But cost-cutting will likely happen in some capacity as the IT service provider eyes $55 million in "cost synergies."