May 5 (Reuters) - French satellite operator Eutelsat has appointed Jean-Francois Fallacher as its new chief executive, it said on Monday, in a surprise move that sent shares at the company down more than 4%.
Fallacher, the former CEO of Orange France, will take over on June 1, succeeding Eva Berneke who has led the company for the last two years.
The Frenchman takes over as Europe seeks a credible alternative to Elon Musk's Starlink for both commercial and defence connectivity.
"This appointment comes as a natural change that fully aligns Eutelsat to the telecom ecosystem," the company said.
Shares in the company were down 3% at 0724 GMT.
Berneke has led Eutelsat through its merger with Britain's OneWeb in 2023 and a rapid revival interest in the role of satellite connectivity in Europe.
Berneke told Reuters last month the company has provided its high-speed satellite internet service to Ukraine for about a year via a German distributor.
"Eutelsat is set for a full alignment with a world where Europe is a strong sovereign space player and strongly aligned with the telecom connectivity ecosystem," Berneke wrote in a post on LinkedIn regarding her departure.
Berneke added that the company was looking to "adjust our governance and shareholder structure", which had paved the way for the CEO change. She did not give further details.
Reporting by Mathias de Rozario in Gdansk and Dominique Patton and Mathieu Rosemain in Paris; Editing by Jacqueline Wong and Louise Heavens
Source: Reuters