CenturyLink CEO Post To Be Succeeded By Level 3 CEO Storey
CenturyLink announced that CEO Glen Post who has led the company for the last 25 years will be stepping down. Level 3 Communications' current president and CEO Jeff Storey will taking over at the helm of the newly-merged company.
When CenturyLink closes its acquisition of Level 3, Storey will join the new company as president and chief operating officer. Post will stay on as CEO after the deal closes until Jan. 1, 2019, after which Post will become executive chairman of the company's board of directors, according to the two companies.
The two companies expect the merger to close by Sept. 30.
"From our standpoint, [CenturyLink] has made up some ground on Verizon and AT&T in the business space, and their combined assets will certainly help this continue," said Shane Stark, director of vendor and channel relations at Carrier Access, Inc., a Des Moines, Iowa solution provider and CenturyLink Premier Partner.
"Both companies have been very channel-friendly over the years, and we look for that to continue," he said, noting that CenturyLink's Post has been focused on bolstering network and cloud services and building the carrier's presence in the enterprise space, and he believes those efforts will continue under Storey.
CenturyLink announced in 2016 that it would buy Broomfield, Colo.-based Level 3 in a cash and stock deal worth $34 billion. The two companies have since emphasized that that the combined company would earn 76 percent of its revenue from business customers.
"[Storey] has been an excellent leader for Level 3 … Just as important, [Storey] shares my focus on continuing to invest in our network, products and services to meet our customers' needs," Post said in a statement.
CenturyLink on Thursday announced several changes to its board, effective immediately. Harvey Perry, vice chairman of the board of CenturyLink has been appointed chairman of the board. Perry is replacing William Owens, who retired from the board on May 24, 2017. W. Bruce Hanks, a member of the CenturyLink board of directors, has been named vice chairman.
CenturyLink at the end of April also announced its new leadership team that would be heading the company following the close of the acquisition. The executive team will include CenturyLink veterans, as well as two Level 3 executives.
Level 3's Sunit Patel will serve as executive vice president and chief financial officer for the combined company and will report directly to Storey. Laurinda Pang, also a current Level 3 executive, will be responsible for sales, revenue generation, and enterprise service delivery for the company's global accounts, including in APAC, EMEA and LATAM markets.
The new company will stay headquartered in CenturyLink's current home in Monroe, Louisiana.