Power struggle leads to reshuffle of TeliaSonera board
Tom von Weymarn to continue as Chairman
The Swedish telecommunications operator TeliaSonera is reshuffling its Board of Directors in mid-term. The winner in the unexpected move is the Finnish Chairman of the Board, Tom von Weymarn. The loser in the power struggle was Vice Chairman Carl Bennet, who had wielded more power than his position on the board alone implies.
Bennet has close ties with Sweden’s Social Democratic Party, the country’s former Prime Minister Göran Persson, as well as the trade union activists in Telia. His position grew weaker when the Social Democrats lost Sweden’s Parliamentary elections in the autumn. In the redistribution of power, many others also had to leave the board, which is losing all but three of its eight full members.
The appointments committee is proposing to the shareholders’ meeting that the new members of the board would include Aspocomp CEO Maija-Liisa Friman, the outgoing CEO of Nordea Bank, Lars G. Nordström, as well as Jon Risfelt, advisor to the pharmaceutical company Gambro, and banker Conny Karlsson.
Present members to stay on include von Weymarn, as well as Caroline Sondewall and former Huhtamäki CEO Timo Peltola.
In addition to Bennet, those leaving the board include, among others, Eva Liljeblom, Professor of Finances at the Helsinki-based Swedish School of Economics and Business Administration.
Decisions on the changes proposed by the appointments committee will be made at an extraordinary shareholders’ meeting, which will probably be held in January 2007.
According to von Weymarn, Bennet’s departure is linked with the fact that a centre-right government took power in Sweden. This has a bearing on the matter, in that the Swedish state is the largest single shareholder, with control of 45 percent of TeliaSonera’s shares.
Bennet was the most outspoken advocate of the interests of the Swedish state and the Social Democratic government. He was a major factor in the removal of the previous chairman, Tapio Hintikka, in the spring of 2004.
Hintikka’s departure further strengthened Bennet’s position on the board, which had put a high priority on protecting the position of Swedish employees during any restructuring.
Sweden’s new government apparently sees things differently, and puts a greater priority on boosting TeliaSonera’s share price.
During their election campaign, the centre-right parties said that they would sell off more than EUR five billion in shares in state-owned companies.
The board reshuffle is seen as one step in the preparations for the selloff. The changes need to be implemented quickly, because the sale could take place soon.
Adding another twist to the process is Christer Gardell, a well-known aggressive risk investor, who recently increased his holding in TeliaSonera to 1.6 percent. The move made him the fourth-largest owner of TeliaSonera stock. Following the move, a representative of Gardell’s finance company Cevian was given a seat on the appointments committee.
It was with Gardell’s support that banker Conny Karlsson is joining the board. Karlsson is seen by some to be close to Gardell’s investment activities. However, the committees’ chairman, Jonas Iversen, denied on Friday that Karlsson would be in the Gardell camp.
Swedish on-line publications also saw Maija-Liisa Friman as being part of the Gardell camp", because she and Gardell are both on the Board of Directors of another company - Metso.
Friman herself denied being in anyone's "camp", saying that she forms her own. She added that members of the board are forbidden from promoting the interests of any individual shareholder.
Previously in HS International Edition:
TeliaSonera to abandon country-based organisation structure (16.11.2006)
Helsingin Sanomat
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| 11.12.2006 - TODAY |
Power struggle leads to reshuffle of TeliaSonera board
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