Cell C Names Former Vodacom Boss Knott-Craig as Chief Executive From April
Cell C (Pty) Ltd., South Africa’s third-largest mobile-phone operator, appointed Alan Knott-Craig as chief executive officer, marking the former Vodacom Group Ltd. (VOD) chief’s return to telecommunications.
Knott-Craig, 59, was the founding CEO of Vodacom, the biggest provider of mobile-phone services to South Africans. He left the job in 2008 after a 15-year tenure at the top of the nation’s first mobile-phone company, now 65 percent-owned by Vodafone Group Plc. (VOD) Knott-Craig will start his new job in April.
“Cell C is operating well below potential,” Knott-Craig said in an interview today in Johannesburg, where the company is based. His success will be judged by higher profits and an increased market share at the end of his three-year contract, Knott-Craig said. Cell C “has got to be much more dominant, much more savvy,” he said.
Knott-Craig said he will create a succession plan and help the company establish “top-notch” network infrastructure. The previous CEO, Lars Reichelt, resigned for personal reasons in July, Cell C said at the time.
Cell C, which is controlled by Dubai-based Oger Telecom Ltd., has more than 9 million customers, Simon Duffy, chairman and interim CEO, said in an interview. Knott-Craig brings the best management skill the company has ever had, said Duffy. “Alan is bubbling with ideas,” he added.
Cell C’s 11 percent bonds due 2015 fell $0.13 to $95, increasing the yields by 5 basis points, or 0.05 percentage point, to 12.84 percent, the highest since Jan. 12, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
After Knott-Craig left as Vodacom CEO, that company had a two-year contract with him ending in March 2011, Chairman Peter Moyo said in 2010.
To contact the reporter on this story: Sikonathi Mantshantsha in Johannesburg at smantshantsh@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Kenneth Wong at kwong11@bloomberg.net
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