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By Ben King, 24 July 2002 12:25

NEWS Fund management group Fidelity today announced the final move in its bid to take control of alternative telecoms carrier Colt. Steve Akin, president of Fidelity's venture capital arm, has been announced as Colt Telecom's new CEO, effective from tomorrow. He replaces Peter Manning. He joins a number of former employees of the fund management outfit recently appointed to Colt's board, including vice-chairman Barry Bateman, and acting CFO Andrew Steward. Fidelity was a founding shareholder in Colt, but the value of its investment has plummeted from over £40 per share in 2000 to 45p. Fidelity became a majority shareholder in December when it stepped in to back an undersubscribed share placement. It has since been placing its own men on the board in a bid to reinforce its control over Colt and turn the group's financial performance round. The group said the new appointment was a shift from the infrastructure-building phase of Colt's business to an emphasis on sales, marketing and service. Colt is in a relatively strong position financially, with over £1bn in cash reserves, making it unlikely to go the way of other companies in the sector such as KPNQwest or WorldCom. It has been taking advantage of the current gloom in the sector to buy its own bonds back at a substantial discount, cutting its debt service costs. The group announced a profit before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation of £14.7m for the second quarter, up 127 percent on the same quarter a year ago. The group's revenue was up 17 per cent to £258.3m on the year.