Veteran Spanish film executive Margaret Nicoll announced that she is quitting her position as general manager of Sogecable rights arm Sogepaq, but not necessarily step away from the conglom where she has spent the last 12 years of her professional career.

Nicoll says a "future relationship" is a possibility that she and Sogecable general manager Carlos Abad are considering, though neither she nor Abad would confirm anything yet. "The big choice is whether to take the independent route or look for another job like the ones I've always had," Nicoll said from home on Thursday. "I'm going to take some time to sort that out."

Her departure is likely to be interpreted as a response to the company's recent restructure, which merged Sogepaq with production arm Sogecine and placed young Sogecine chief Fernando Bovaira in the joint company's top position as general manager of film production and distribution.

Sogepaq's other top executive, long-time president Jose Vicuna, departed earlier this year to helm parent company Grupo Prisa's production start-up Plural Entertainment.

Complicating matters, France's StudioCanal bought a 45% stake in Sogecable earlier this month in a transaction which is likely to have wider ramifications than have yet been revealed. StudioCanal and Sogepaq already manage a joint acquisitions company, StudioCanal Spain.

Nicoll took over the GM position after heading up acquisitions for Sogecable pay TV outfit Canal Plus, where she helped negotiate output deals with Hollywood studios for the then-new pay channel and, later, for the 1997 launch of Canal Satellite Digital (CSD). More recently, she worked to turn around Sogepaq's lagging international acquisitions and sales presence.

Her departure is effective immediately. A replacement could be announced as early as September.