Liberty Global Names Stephen van Rooyen as New Ziggo Group CEO Ahead of Planned Amsterdam Listing in 2027
Liberty Global has today announced that it intends to appoint VodafoneZiggo CEO Stephen van Rooyen as Chief Executive Officer of Ziggo Group, a newly-formed Benelux telecommunications company that will combine VodafoneZiggo in the Netherlands and Telenet in Belgium, creating a scaled regional telecoms champion with 13m customers and €6.6bn ($7.7bn) of revenue.
Mr van Rooyen brings extensive European telecoms and media leadership experience to the role and has led a turnaround at VodafoneZiggo over the past 18 months. He previously spent more than 17 years at Sky, where he served as CEO of Sky UK & Ireland and Chief Commercial Officer of the Sky Group. He will be joined by Jany Fruytier, who has been CFO of Sunrise in Switzerland since 2020, and played a key role in the growth and public listing of Liberty Global’s Swiss business, which has delivered significant shareholder returns.
The new stand-alone group will provide sharper strategic and financial focus and a robust capital structure, giving Ziggo Group the agility to invest in innovative products and customer services, deliver digital-first customer experiences and respond more quickly to evolving customer needs.
Ziggo Group is expected to be listed on Euronext Amsterdam in 2027, with 90% of shares proposed to be distributed to Liberty Global shareholders and 10% owned by Vodafone, as a result of the pending acquisition of their 50% interest in VodafoneZiggo. The listing will also provide local investors with the opportunity to invest in a regional telecoms business combining two converged national operators, with strong customer propositions and a compelling outlook for free cash flow generation and value creation over time.
Mr van Rooyen will retain his role at VodafoneZiggo alongside his new responsibilities. Since his appointment in September 2024, he has led a turnaround in the business, including lower churn, a refreshed brand, the launch of new customer products and the strongest fixed-line performance in nearly three years. John Porter continues as CEO of Telenet, which has just delivered its strongest quarterly broadband performance in ten years.
Mike Fries, Liberty Global Chairman and CEO, said: “The creation of Ziggo Group is a clear step towards unlocking the value in our Benelux telecoms business for shareholders. Stephen’s pan-European leadership experience and track record of operational transformation, combined with Jany’s financial expertise and experience from the Sunrise listing, give us the right team to deliver this. Together, they will lead two highly complementary businesses, and we see significant opportunities in what these two strong brands can achieve together.”
Stephen van Rooyen said: “I’m energised to take on this new role. Having led the turnaround at VodafoneZiggo over the past 18 months, I see a clear opportunity in bringing VodafoneZiggo and Telenet together under Ziggo Group. These are two strong, locally rooted businesses, and by working more closely together we can build an even stronger platform for customers across the Benelux. Together, we will continue to raise the bar on customer experience, innovation and growth in the region.”
John Porter said: “The development of Ziggo Group creates huge opportunities to generate additional strength and economies of scale at the Benelux level, while at the same time allowing us to maintain our local course and customer focus. I look forward to working closely with Stephen to help build that next phase.”
Both businesses will continue to operate under their existing brands and leadership teams. In both markets, VodafoneZiggo and Telenet offer top-tier sports and entertainment to customers and have won multiple awards for their mobile and broadband networks, underpinning strong customer propositions.
