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Syniverse gets leader from inside
A board member of the telecom services company will become CEO in 2007.
By LOUIS HAU
Published January 10, 2006
TAMPA - Syniverse Technologies said Monday that board member Tony G. Holcombe has been appointed president and chief executive of the telecommunications services company.
He succeeds G. Edward Evans, who will remain chairman through Syniverse's spring 2007 annual shareholders meeting.
Holcombe, 50, stepped down in December as president of Emdeon Corp., formerly known as WebMD.
The management change comes amid a surge in Syniverse's stock price following a disappointing initial public offering in February 2005. Syniverse's $282-million IPO, believed to be the largest ever by a Tampa Bay area company, was priced below expectations at $16 a share and eventually sank to a low of $10.64 on May 13.
But the company's profile has steadily risen as it beat Wall Street earnings estimates the past three quarters. After hitting an all-time high of $23.65 earlier in the day, Syniverse's stock closed Monday at $23.35, up 55 cents, or 2.4 percent.
Evans, who was part of the investor group that purchased what is now Syniverse from Verizon Communications in 2002, remains the company's second-largest shareholder. He will focus on company strategy, mergers and acquisition activity, and customer and industry relations through the end of the year.
The management change began about six months ago when Evans told Syniverse's board that he wanted to relinquish his posts by mid 2007 to spend more time with his family. The 44-year-old Tampa native lives in Oklahoma City and isn't at the company's offices full time.
After an initial search failed to yield a suitable candidate, Holcombe, who has been on Syniverse's board since 2003, said he'd be interested.
"It was a really exciting opportunity for me to step into a company that I know well," Holcombe said Monday.
--Louis Hau can be reached at 813 226-3404 or hau@sptimes.com
[Last modified January 10, 2006, 01:51:15]
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