Dutch telecoms company KPN is looking outside the company for a successor to CEO Ad Scheepbouwer, the Financieele Dagblad reports on Wednesday.

Headhunters Egon Zehnder have provided KPN with a list of suitable candidates that includes Deutsche Telekom’s Niek Jan ten Damme and Duco Sickinghe of the Belgian Telenet. Sickinghe in particular is a serious candidate, according to the paper.
The move will be a disappointment to Scheepbouwer who has spent the last three years developing a number of internal successors, the paper says.
KPN wants to change company culture, with a more collegial character at the top and with growth and the development of new markets as the most important goals.
A final decision on the appointment is expected by the end of September.