Douglas Craigie Stevenson — credited for shifting Cell C’s business model and finalising a more than three year negotiation with lenders — has resigned as CEO and will leave the mobile operator at the end of March.
Blue Label Telecoms, Cell C’s largest shareholder, said in a brief statement that Stevenson is leaving for “personal reasons” and will pursue other opportunities “in line with his personal career goals”.
Craigie Stevenson’s sudden departure and the lack of an immediate permanent successor may indicate a misalignment between himself and the company or its shareholders. Large corporates typically have well defined succession plans in place for executive leadership.
The veteran telecom executive will be remembered for shifting Cell C’s business away from operating its own physical network infrastructure, as well as leading the mobile operator to completing a recapitalisation to fix its balance sheet.
Blue Label completed a long-awaited recapitalisation of the troubled mobile operator in September. SA’s fourth-largest mobile network operator has struggled to make a profit since it opened for business in 2001.
It has long-term debt of R8.7bn, prompting Blue Label and Lesaka Technology (formerly known as Net1), which previously had a 15% stake, to write down their combined R7.5bn investment to nil.
Following the recap, Blue Label positively revised the value of Cell C on its books to R962.5m, as it reported interim earnings to November.
The cellphone company has also shifted away from owning and operating its own network infrastructure in favour of roaming agreements with MTN and Vodacom.
The company uses its own spectrum through network towers operated by the larger players, and it took part in the spectrum auction held in 2022.
Cell C board chair Joe Mthimunye thanked Stevenson for his help in implementing Cell C’s new strategy.
“We thank Douglas for his valued contribution and for successfully assisting in navigating Cell C through the recapitalisation process,” he said. “We wish Douglas well in his future endeavours.”
Brett Copans, who joined the company in April 2022, has been appointed as the interim CEO with immediate effect. He previously worked at Investec Bank before starting Pentrich Financial Services, which specialises in providing capital raising, advisory and management services.
Stevenson’s departure follows that of former CFO Zaf Mahomed in August 2022. He was replaced by Lerato Pule.
Having agreed on new terms with lenders, Cell C’s next boss will take over a company in the process of expanding.
Capitec has became the latest on its roster of mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs). This means it leases network infrastructure from Cell C to sell data and voice services to its customers.
MVNOs — which include Virgin Mobile, Mr Price Mobile and Standard Bank Mobile — contribute about 2% of the total mobile subscribers in SA.
For Cell C, this piece of business accounts for about 10% of its customer base and 15% of revenue, Stevenson said during a presentation of the operator’s earnings on Thursday.
Cell C has been the largest MVNO provider for a number of years but is now facing growing competition from larger mobile operators, mandated by the government to offer similar services in the market.
With Mudiwa Gavaza
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.