KPN has appointed Dominique Leroy the company’s new CEO from 1 December. Leroy will succeed Maximo Ibarra, who is leaving the company on 30 September for Sky Italia, after less than two years in the job. Leroy will join KPN from Belgian operator Proximus, where she has been CEO since 2014. Before that, Leroy served 24 years at Unilever, including as MD of the BeLux activities.
Leroy to continue strategic changes
Duco Sickinghe, chairman of the supervisory board at KPN and also a former Belgian CEO at Telenet, said the company was pleased with the appointment and was confident she would successfully implement KPN's strategy. KPN announced its 2019-2021 strategy at the end of last year, giving priority to sustainable growth in the medium term, Sickinghe said, noting that good progress had been made to date.
“With Dominique at the helm, the supervisory board is confident we will continue to see progress in the implementation of KPN's strategy, positioning the company for further success in the coming years. Continuing to implement that strategy remains KPN's focus," he said.
With the appointment of Leroy, Joost Farwerck will temporarily assume the position of chairman of the board of directors and the executive committee from 1 October to 1 December 2019, in addition to his existing role as COO.
Works council supports appointment
The works council of KPN has issued a positive advice on the appointment of Leroy. The new CEO's remuneration package will be in line with that of the company, with a base salary of EUR 935,000 per year and regular incentives for results in the short and long term. Shareholders will be informed of the intended appointment at an extraordinary meeting to be convened in due course.
At Proximus, Leroy's departure comes as a surprise, after she was appointed for another four-year term in April. The company thanked Leroy "for her leadership and efforts in very challenging market conditions" and highlighted the return to growth at the company thanks to her 'Fit for growth' strategy. Proximus said "with regrets" it would start immediately the search for a successor.
Leroy's experience with managing restructurings was likely key to her appointment at KPN. She has slimmed down the workforce at state-controlled Proximus and faced down unions again earlier this year after announcing a new round of job cuts. KPN is facing its own opposition from labour representatives on plans to discontinue some of its second brands and consolidate operations around the KPN brand.
Leroy also launched Proximus' 'Fibre for Belgium' plan to bring FTTH to businesses and homes. KPN relaunched its own FTTH roll-out at the start of this year with the goal of connecting another 1 million premises over three years.
