South African mobile operator Cell C has announced that it has appointed a chief restructuring officer months after securing a deal to recapitalise its balance sheet.
The operator hired Brett Copans to fill the newly created role at the company.
In a statement, Cell C said, “This role intends to ensure the prudent and efficient use of resources and funding allocation to high-value opportunities. This is critical to review all major investment proposals and capital programmes to ensure alignment with the company strategy.”
Cell C also disclosed that Copans would be a member of the operator’s executive committee and report to CEO Douglas Craigie Stevenson.
Copans joined Cell C in April 2022 and was mainly responsible for ensuring the recapitalisation’s successful conclusion, led by Cell C’s largest shareholder, Blue Label Telecoms.
Speaking about his new role, Craigie Stevenson said, “Moving into a new phase of growth post-recapitalisation, we have identified several key strategic projects and high-value opportunities to take Cell C forward and drive our ambitions to transform from a traditional telco to ‘techco’.
“It’s imperative that we apply the necessary skills, oversight and governance principles to evaluating and implementing these initiatives to ensure maximum return on investment. Brett’s experience will be invaluable in this.”
Before joining Cell C, Copans spent 18 years at Investec before founding Pentrich Financial Services, a specialist financial services business providing capital raising, advisory and management services to companies undergoing restructuring.
Cell C added, “Brett brings extensive expertise in investment banking, capital raising, financial restructuring, asset acquisition and disposals in varied industries, including banking, telecommunications and property development.”
