MONTRÉAL and HALIFAX,
Sept. 24, 2014 /CNW/ - BCE and
Bell Aliant today announced that Bell Aliant President and CEO
Karen Sheriff will retire from the
BCE group on December 31, 2014.
On September 22, BCE and Bell
Aliant announced that BCE's privatization of Bell Aliant is
expected to close on or about October
31. Upon close of the transaction, Bell Aliant will cease
operating as a publicly traded company and be integrated into BCE's
national operations.
"Karen Sheriff has been a key
senior leader at BCE since she joined Bell Canada as a marketing
executive more than 15 years ago. Karen has transformed Bell Aliant
into an innovative and efficient competitor that ranks with the
best telecom operators across North
America," said George Cope,
President and CEO of Bell Canada and BCE Inc., and Chair of Bell
Aliant. "On behalf of everyone at BCE and Bell Aliant, I offer
Karen our warmest congratulations on her outstanding career at Bell
Canada and Bell Aliant and our thanks for continuing with BCE to
help ensure a smooth transition."
Ms. Sheriff was appointed President and CEO of Bell Aliant in
November 2008, after serving as Chief
Operating Officer from July 2008.
Taking over in an aggressively competitive environment, she
initiated a plan of corporate transformation and strategic
priority-setting, and led Bell Aliant in its game-changing
fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) network build. Under Ms. Sheriff's
leadership, the company has been delivering innovative products and
exceptional customer service while on a focused path to return the
company to growth.
"I want to thank all of my colleagues at BCE for an incredible
run over the past 15 years, culminating with my time at Bell
Aliant. It's been a great honour to lead the Bell Aliant team and
it's been an amazing experience to make big things happen together,
including the launch of FibreOP. We're delivering extraordinary
value to our customers, with advanced communications products and
the highest quality customer service, and to our minority public
shareholders with Bell Aliant's privatization within BCE," said Ms.
Sheriff. "This is an exciting next step for Bell Aliant with BCE's
commitment to continued investment in Atlantic Canada. I look forward to working
with George Cope and the team as we
begin the integration of Bell Aliant into BCE's national
operations."
A new regional leader for Bell Aliant will be announced on the
closing of BCE's privatization of the company. On July 23, BCE announced it would privatize its
Bell Aliant affiliate, which BCE already controlled, by acquiring
the interest of public minority shareholders for approximately
$3.95 billion. Integrated into BCE
alongside Bell Canada, Bell Aliant will continue to serve customers
in New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova
Scotia, and Prince Edward
Island from its Halifax
headquarters.
BCE plans capital investment of $2.1
billion in Atlantic Canada
over the next 5 years, including mobile 4G LTE expansion to more
than 100 additional small towns and rural locations across the
Atlantic region by the end of 2015. Bell also recently announced
the acquisition of two new call centres in New Brunswick that will bring 700 more jobs
into the BCE team.
Ms. Sheriff joined Bell Canada in May
1999 as Senior Vice President of Product Management and
Development, and was later promoted to Chief Marketing Officer. She
became Bell Canada's President of Small and Medium Business before
being appointed Chief Operating Officer of Bell Aliant in
July 2008 and then President and CEO
in November 2008.
A Director of the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, Ms.
Sheriff is also Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Gardiner
Museum of Ceramic Art and a member of the New Brunswick Business
Council. She was named one of Canada's top 25 Women of Influence in both
2013 and 2014, and Woman of the Year by Canadian Women in
Communications and Technology in 2012. Recognized as one of
Atlantic Canada's Top 50 CEOs by
Atlantic Business magazine, Ms. Sheriff has been honoured as one of
Canada's Top 100 Most Powerful
Women on multiple occasions by the Women's Executive Network
(WXN).
Before joining Bell, Ms. Sheriff was responsible for corporate
marketing and branding at Ameritech Inc. following increasingly
senior positions with Ameritech and United Airlines, where she
began her career. Ms. Sheriff holds a bachelor's degree in
psychology, economics and mathematics from Washington University in St. Louis (1979) and a master's degree in
business administration, with concentrations in Marketing and
Finance, from the University of Chicago
(1984).
About Bell Aliant
Bell Aliant (TSX: BA) is one of
North America's largest regional
communications providers and the first company in Canada to cover an entire city with
fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) technology with its FibreOP™ services.
Through its operating entities, it serves customers in six Canadian
provinces with innovative information, communication and technology
services including voice, data, Internet, video and value-added
business solutions. Bell Aliant's employees deliver the highest
quality of customer service, choice and convenience. For more
information, please visit BellAliant.ca.
About BCE
BCE Inc. (TSX, NYSE: BCE) is Canada's largest communications company,
providing a comprehensive and innovative suite of broadband
communication services to residential and business customers under
the Bell Canada and Bell Aliant brands. Bell Media is Canada's premier multimedia company with
leading assets in television, radio and digital media, including
CTV, Canada's #1 television
network, and the country's most-watched specialty channels. To
learn more, please visit BCE.ca.
Bell Let's Talk promotes Canadian mental health with national
awareness and anti-stigma campaigns, like Clara's Big Ride for Bell
Let's Talk and Bell Let's Talk Day, and significant funding of
community care and access, research, and workplace initiatives. To
learn more, please visit Bell.ca/LetsTalk.
Media inquiries:
BCE
Jean Charles Robillard
(514) 870-4739
jean_charles.robillard@bell.ca
Bell Aliant
Jennifer MacIsaac
(902) 225-3704
jennifer.macIsaac@bellaliant.ca
Investor inquiries:
BCE
Investor Relations
Toll-free: (800) 339-6353
investor.relations@bce.ca
Bell Aliant
Zeda Redden
Toll-free: (877) 487-5726
zeda.redden@bellaliant.ca
SOURCE Bell Canada