Blue Label Telecoms co-founders and co-CEOs Brett and Mark Levy are stepping down as non-executive directors of the Cell C board with immediate effect.
Blue Label owns 45% of Cell C, after having bought the stake in a R5.5-billion deal last year. That deal has crushed Blue Label’s share price over the past 12 months, with the extent of the financial problems at the mobile operator weighing heavily on investors’ minds. Blue Label recently wrote down the carrying value of its Cell C stake to zero.
In a statement issued via the JSE late on Thursday, Blue Label said the Levy brothers are stepping down to concentrate their efforts on the company they founded.
Jerry Vilakazi and Gary Harlow, non-executive directors of Blue Label, will replace the brothers on the Cell C board.
Paul Edwards, a former CEO of MTN Group, has also been appointed as a Cell C director. Edwards, who is on the board of Cell C shareholder Net1 UEPS Technologies, replaced Net1 CEO Herman Kotze on the mobile operator’s board.
Joe Mthimunye, who is currently a non-executive director of Cell C, has been appointed as chairman, replacing Kuben Pillay. Pillay’s two year term had come to an end in August 2019, and he had agreed to remain on until a new chairman had been identified, and a proper handover process effected, Blue Label said. — (c) 2019 NewsCentral Media
