Current Oi and former PT chief Bava resigns

Zeinal Bava

Zeinal Bava, the CEO of Brazilian telco Oi, and the former Portugal Telecom chief executive, has resigned his position.

Bava had been subject to criticism following Oi’s botched merger with Portugal Telecom.

The Portuguese telco’s merger with the Brazilian company ran into trouble as a result of the collapse of shareholder Portuguese bank Espirito Santo International. This left Portugal Telecom with responsibility for €897 million in debt that had been lent to Espirito Santo International unit Rio Forte, leading to a revision of the terms of the merger that left the Portuguese telco with a reduced stake in the combined entity.

Oi’s chief financial officer, Bayard de Paoli Gontijo, will take over as interim CEO until a new appointment is made.

Bava’s departure comes as Altice, the owner of French cable operator Numericable, currently in the process of acquiring telco SFR, enters talks with Oi about a potential acquisition of Portugal Telecom.