2degrees, which recently merged with Orcon Group, has named its new board - and the lineup includes a onetime rival: longtime Vodafone NZ chief executive Russell Stanners.
His appointment marks Stanners' return to the telco industry following his October 2018 resignation as Vodafone NZ CEO - a role he had held since 2005.
The new board is chaired by Liz Coutts - who currently chairs Oceania Healthcare, Skellerup Holdings and Ebos Group and has previously had board roles at Yellow Pages, Ports of Auckland, Sanford, Life Pharmacy, Air New Zealand and Trust Bank.
The lineup also includes Kathy Meads, who early in her career was CFO of Telecom's network design spin-out ConnecTel. Her current director roles at Port Taranaki, Magic Memories and NZPM, along with an international directorship with the Luxembourg-bassed The Shipowners' Mutual Protection and Indemnity Association. Her previous directorships include Transpower and Enable Networks.
Meads was also on the board of Snap - then NZ's fourth-largest ISP - when it was bought by 2degrees in 2015.
Kathy Meads. Photo / Supplied
The five person-board is rounded off by two executives from Macquarie Asset Management: Brett Jolly and Vic McClelland.
Jolly, a Macquarie division director, has spent his career in investment banking.
McClelland, currently a technical adviser to Macquarie, was formerly Vocus Group CTO.
Russell Stanners. Photo / Jason Oxenham
Former Port of Tauranga CEO turned professional director Mark Cairns, who was lined up to chair 2degrees' board last year in the event an IPO went ahead, is not part of the picture.
Neither is new 2degrees chief executive Mark Callander on the board. Callander was previously head of Vocus Group's NZ operations, as well as heading its wholesale operations on both sides of the Tasman and serving as a Vocus Group executive director.
In June 2021, ASX-listed Macquarie teamed with Aware Super to buy Vocus Group (including its NZ subsidiary branded Orcon Group) for A$3.5 billion.
Voyage Australia (the joint-venture vehicle formed by Macquarie and Aware for the Vocus deal) subsequently bought 2degrees for $1.7b, then merged its operations with 2degrees. The merger wrapped up in June.
