StarHub appoints parent company's deputy CEO as its chief

STARHUB has appointed Nikhil Eapen, currently the deputy chief executive officer at parent company ST Telemedia, as its new CEO.

Mr Eapen, 48, will start at StarHub on Jan 1 next year. He replaces Peter Kaliaropoulos, 61, who stepped down on Oct 31 this year in the wake of a family member's serious health problems.

Terry Clontz, chairman of StarHub, said on Friday: "This appointment is the result of a rigorous and extensive global executive search. As an experienced executive with a proven track record of regional achievements and broad industry knowledge, my fellow directors and I are confident that Nikhil is well qualified to lead StarHub in managing the challenges that operators face today, and to pursue new opportunities."

StarHub said that key criteria for selection included "strong leadership"; senior executive experience in telco and adjacent industries; understanding of the new market dynamics around intense competition; strong track record of successful corporate transformation, enterprise and merger & acquisition backgrounds to grow the business; and experience with leading diverse teams to deal with the rapid changes in the highly competitive environment.

Mr Eapen has been deputy CEO of ST Telemedia since August 2018. Before that, he was chief strategy and investment officer at the company for about three years.

Prior to ST Telemedia, Mr Eapen was an investment banker for over 18 years at Citigroup, working in the bank's Hong Kong, New York and South-east Asian offices.

Shares of StarHub closed down 0.77 per cent at S$1.29 on Friday before the announcement.