UPC Switzerland said that it has appointed Baptiest Coopmans as its new CEO, effective 01 February. Coopmans succeeds Severina Pascu, who will take over the position of deputy CEO and CFO at Virgin Media, UPC’s sister company in the UK, according to Telecompaper.
Parent company Liberty Global said Coopmans’s main responsibility will be to implement the second phase of the company’s growth plan. He will also oversee Liberty Global’s operations in Poland and Slovakia.
Previously COO at UPC, Pascu took over as CEO in mid-2018. Under her tenure, UPC launched a turnaround plan to introduce new products and services, such as gigabit internet and new mobile tariffs. The company also attempted a merger with Sunrise, which was eventually abandoned after opposition from the latter’s shareholders.
In addition to leading the finance function at Virgin Media, Pascu will take on responsibility for customer service and field operations as well as logistics and supply chain, reporting to Virgin Media CEO Lutz Schuler. She will also continue to be a member of Liberty Global’s Executive Leadership Team. She started her career with Liberty Global as CFO of UPC Romania in 2008 and later held positions ranging from CEO of Romania and Hungary and head of all of Liberty’s Central European businesses.
