Pierre Danon (pictured) is to step down as Eircom chairman following his appointment to the position of CEO of Numericable – Completel, a French, fibre-based, fixed-line operator.
Danon will remain as Eircom chairman until a successor has been appointed.
Numericable operates the third-leading, alternative, high-speed network in France, passing nearly 10 million households and providing high-definition cable television, video on demand, very high-speed internet and telephony services to over four million homes. Completel is the leading alternative B2B provider in France.
“While I am leaving Eircom to take up an opportunity with another superb company in Numericable-Completel, it has been a great pleasure to work with the Eircom executive team and its employees over the past two years,” commented Danon.
“Over that time period, we have significantly accelerated the company’s investment in the country’s infrastructure, supported by a commitment to invest up to €1bn by the end of 2009, taken major steps to open it up to additional competition through local loop unbundling (LLU) and improved overall customer service levels.
“In the past nine months, revenues have grown by 5pc and EBITDA by 9pc, continuing to deliver strong performance for the company’s shareholders, including its employees,” he said.
“It gives me great personal satisfaction to be leaving Eircom in the knowledge that the company is in such a strong position to compete and grow its businesses under the excellent leadership of its CEO, Rex Comb, and is well supported by a first-class executive team. The shareholders will now begin a search process to identify and secure the services of a top-calibre chairman for the company.”
Danon said he would be working closely with the executive team at Eircom in the coming months until a successor is appointed as chairman.
“On behalf of the entire organisation, I would like to thank Pierre for all of his work during the past two years,” said Rex Comb, CEO, Eircom. “As chairman, Pierre played an active role in the progress of a number of significant initiatives including broadband rollout, local loop unbundling and next-generation networks. We wish him every success in his new role.”
“Pierre has been a tremendous asset to Eircom since he took up his position as chairman and we are sorry to see him go,” said Rob Topfer, on behalf of the majority shareholder Babcock & Brown Capital. “However, we wish him well in his new opportunity and thank him most sincerely for his service to the company in the past two years.”
By Niall Byrne
