EE confirm CEO will leave the operator following BT takeover, with chief commercial officer Marc Allera set for promotion to CEO role
EE has announced Olaf Swantee is set to step down from his role as CEO once the initial £12.5 billion takeover from BT is completed.
He will be replaced by chief commercial officer Marc Allera, who will take up the senior role within the company once the deal concludes.
In October, Swantee refused to discuss his future with Mobile News after O2 CEO Ronan Dunne confirmed he would leave if CK Hutchison’s £10.25 billion buyout of the operator was completed.
Swantee has been in charge at EE since 2011, when he replaced Tom Alexander in the role. Prior to that he held roles with co-owner Orange with his last position as executive VP of European activities and sourcing.
“As we approach the imminent completion of the deal with BT and the start of an exciting new chapter for EE, I’ve taken the enormously difficult decision to step down from my role as CEO, and pursue new opportunities,” Swantee said.
“I am immensely proud of the past four and a half years, creating, launching and growing EE to the exciting business it is today. It has been a period of great success, and I’d like to thank all of our employees for the incredibly hard work and support they have shown to me, as well as the business, to help achieve this.
“To leave EE is probably the hardest decision of my career, but I feel the time is right for me to handover for the next exciting chapter of EE’s incredible journey. I wish Marc all the success for the future.”
Takeover
In January last year, BT announced it would buy EE in a deal initially worth £12.5 billion, that could reach £13.5 billion if certain targets are met.
The Competitions and Markets Authority provisionally approved the takeover at the end of October. In a statement, the CMA said its phase one investigation into the deal had found “the merger is not expected to result in a substantial lessening of competition (SLC) in any market in the UK.”
Allera has been in the industry for over 15 years, spending the last four of those with EE, after joining from rival Three.
EE chairman and Deutsche Telekom CFO Thomas Dannenfeldt said: “Under Olaf’s leadership EE has delivered on every level. Based on a strategy of network and service supremacy, EE has shown a tremendously successful market and financial performance over a number of years.
“Marc has already greatly contributed to this success in the past and I wish him the best of luck in his new role.”
