The co-chief executive of Patrick Drahi’s Altice Group has stepped down after an investigation into corruption within its Portugese unit.
Alexandre Fonseca ran Altice Portugal between 2017 and 2022 and suspended himself after the company became involved in a procurement corruption scandal.
He was not considered a suspect in the investigation and has denied all wrongdoing.
“Group and I have reached an agreement that puts an end to a relationship of more than a decade, in which I put all my dedication and dedication and to whom I have provided deep collaboration,” he wrote in a Linkedin post.
Altice Portugal said it had “reached an agreement with Fonseca, ceasing the employment contract it had with him, as well as all executive and non-executive roles he had”.
During his time in charge Fonseca was attributed with being able to reverse a decline in the business. He’d previously worked for operator Cabovisão.
On Thursday shareholders in Portugal Telecom/Oi accepted a deal enabling Altice to secure the former state company.
A decision on the €7.4 billion purchase was delayed for several weeks after Portugal’s financial regulator claimed it had not received the information it required in order to make a decision on the transaction.
Oi will now sell Portugal Telecom’s domestic and Hungarian assets to Altice; its Brazilian interests will be the subject of a separate agreement.
