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To: Puck who wrote (11768)	5/21/2001 2:05:24 PM
From: mightylakers	Respond to of 34857

Head of BT’s German Business Resigns By Boris Grondahl - Berlin Bureau Chief May 21 2001 08:27 AM PDT Maximilian Ardelt, top exec at Viag Interkom, quits after a dispute over the company’s strategy and financial position. thestandard.com -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- British Telecommunications plc NYSE: BTY Last 67.60 Change -10.45 20 min. delayed RELATED CONTENT • Companies (1) • Articles (9) • Topics (1) • Insights (1) Printer-friendly version Email to a friend -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- UPDATE Maximilian Ardelt, chief executive of BT's German wireless operation Viag Interkom, is leaving the company amid disagreements over strategy and the financial position of the business. The news, which was leaked to German business daily Handelsblatt on Sunday, was confirmed on Monday by Viag Interkom and BT. Keith Cornell, BT Wireless’s president of Europe, would become acting CEO, the companies said. Ardelt will continue to act as an adviser to BT Wireless on regulation, politics and the competitive environment in Germany. BT took complete control of Viag Interkom in January when it bought out the company’s partners, the German utilities group E-On and Norway's Telenor, which had helped set up the business in 1998. BT spent $6.34 billion (7.25 billion euros) buying E-On's 45 percent and a further $1.4 billion (1.61 billion euros) to pick up Telenor's 10 percent. BT also assumed debt of $3.62 billion (4.15 billion euros). Ardelt is believed to be in disagreement with BT over the financial needs of Viag Interkom. It is the youngest and smallest German GSM operator, with 3.2 million subscribers and 1.6 billion euros annual revenue, and last year it paid $7.34 billion (8.4 billion euros) for one of the country's six 3G licenses. Viag executive Hans-Burghardt Ziermann, a member of Ardelt's entourage, is also set to resign. Viag insiders said that Ardelt felt BT was holding him back. A source within Viag said, "He built the company, it used to be his own supervisory board, and he was the only telecom manager. But he has much less to say now that BT has taken over." BT has already started to restructure Viag Interkom, separating the group's fixed-line business from its wireless assets and integrating them into its BT Ignite subsidiary. News of dissension in the ranks at one of its few wholly owned wireless subsidiaries will be a setback for BT, which is looking to spin off BT Wireless by the end of the year.