CEO Guillaume Boutin from Proximus leaves for Vodafone

At the end of last year, N-VA MP Michael Freilich and MR chairman Georges-Louis Bouchez were still very critical of the policy of Proximus under Boutin in the media. They denounced the diving of the share, after which Boutin and chairman of the Stefaan De Clerck Board of Directors came to the Federal Parliament Committee on the Public Companies Committee.

Boutin insured on Friday evening during a press conference that this criticism did not participate in his decision to leave Proximus. “That has nothing to do with it. An opportunity has presented itself that I could not refuse. It was not an easy decision, I gave everything for Proximus. “

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Boutin says he has driven a “fantastic” ride. “We have won market share, there is an industrial plan for the long term … And the good news is that I will not leave tomorrow, but that there is a transition period. I certainly leave at a time when Proximus is ready for the future. “

“During his CEO mandate, Guillaume has initiated an important acceleration of the rollout of Fiber and 5G in Belgium and paved the road for collaboration agreements with sector pates to limit the duplication of fiber networks,” Proximus reports in a press release. “Together with his team, he has transformed Proximus into the leading operator in Belgium in terms of growth and commercial results and has achieved important milestones.”

Fierce emotions

Chairman Stefaan De Clerck thanks Boutin on Friday for “his immense contribution” to the Proximus Group. “His departure will certainly cause intense emotions in the Proximus community. (…) In his role as CEO, with his leadership and with the strong implementation of the strategic transformation program, he successfully brought Proximus into a position to generate long -term profitable growth in both domestic and international markets And the rollout of both mobile and fixed networks of the future is insured, “says De Clerck.

De Clerck does not think that a successor will have been found by mid -May. “That is not very realistic. A selection agency will now be appointed and the process to find a successor will take some time. In anticipation, an interim CEO can then be appointed within the group. “

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De Clerck says that he was certainly not aware that Boutin was approached by Vodafone. “This is his decision, not ours. I did everything to try to keep our top player. ” According to De Clerck, it is now important to convince the new government, as a majority shareholder, of the pertinence of our strategy. “