Liberty Global names Van Rooyen as new Ziggo Group CEO
June 2, 2026
Liberty Global has announced that it intends to appoint VodafoneZiggo CEO Stephen van Rooyen as CEO of Ziggo Group, a newly-formed Benelux telecommunications company that will combine VodafoneZiggo in the Netherlands and Telenet in Belgium, creating a scaled regional telecoms champion with 13 million customers.
Van Rooyen brings European telecoms and media leadership experience to the role and has led a turnaround at VodafoneZiggo over the past 18 months. He previously spent more than 17 years at Sky, where he served as CEO of Sky UK & Ireland and Chief Commercial Officer of the Sky Group. He will be joined by Jany Fruytier, who has been CFO of Sunrise in Switzerland since 2020, and played a key role in the growth and public listing of Liberty Global’s Swiss business, which has delivered significant shareholder returns.
The new stand-alone group aims to provide sharper strategic and financial focus and a robust capital structure, giving Ziggo Group the agility to invest in innovative products and customer services, deliver digital-first customer experiences and respond more quickly to evolving customer needs.
Ziggo Group is expected to be listed on Euronext Amsterdam in 2027, with 90 per cent of shares proposed to be distributed to Liberty Global shareholders and 10 per cent owned by Vodafone, as a result of the pending acquisition of their 50% interest in VodafoneZiggo.
Van Rooyen will retain his role at VodafoneZiggo alongside his new responsibilities. John Porter continues as CEO of Telenet, which has just delivered its strongest quarterly broadband performance in ten years.
Mike Fries, Liberty Global Chairman and CEO, commented: “The creation of Ziggo Group is a clear step towards unlocking the value in our Benelux telecoms business for shareholders. Stephen’s pan-European leadership experience and track record of operational transformation, combined with Jany’s financial expertise and experience from the Sunrise listing, give us the right team to deliver this. Together, they will lead two highly complementary businesses, and we see significant opportunities in what these two strong brands can achieve together.”
Van Rooyen said: “I’m energised to take on this new role. Having led the turnaround at VodafoneZiggo over the past 18 months, I see a clear opportunity in bringing VodafoneZiggo and Telenet together under Ziggo Group. These are two strong, locally rooted businesses, and by working more closely together we can build an even stronger platform for customers across the Benelux. Together, we will continue to raise the bar on customer experience, innovation and growth in the region.”
Porter added: “The development of Ziggo Group creates huge opportunities to generate additional strength and economies of scale at the Benelux level, while at the same time allowing us to maintain our local course and customer focus. I look forward to working closely with Stephen to help build that next phase.”
Both businesses will continue to operate under their existing brands and leadership teams.
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