Joe Natale (pictured) has stepped down from his role as president and CEO of Rogers Communications, with former CFO Tony Staffieri taking over in the interim.

“I am grateful for the opportunity to lead Rogers Communications through a critical time in its history and remain excited about the transformational potential of the Shaw transaction,” said Natale in a written statement late Tuesday (Nov. 16). “It has been a privilege to build a team of such extraordinary character and ability and I wish each of our 24,000 team members continued success and good fortune in the future.”

With Natale out, the company is now seeking a permanent CEO. Staffieri is among those being considered, according to a release from Rogers Communications.

The release states that both the Shaw and Rogers Communications teams will be in attendance of the upcoming CRTC hearings regarding the proposed $26 billion Shaw acquisition, including board chairman Edward Rogers.

The move comes less than two weeks after the company’s public board of directors battle, where Rogers replaced five members of the board following a failed attempt to remove Natale as president and CEO.

Edward Rogers filed to the B.C. Supreme Court after the company initially refused to acknowledge the decision, since he cast the sole shareholder vote as the majority shareholder of the company through the Rogers Control Trust.

The court ruled in favour of Rogers on Nov. 5 and the company opted not to appeal the decision. Rogers added Ivan Fecan, Jack Cockwell, Michael Cooper, Jan Innes and John Kerr to the board, replacing John A. MacDonald, Ellis Jacob, John Clappison, Bonnie Brooks and David Peterson.