TeliaSonera board removes CEO Anders Igel

Telecommunications company owners want dynamic growth

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An edgy management style, an inability to inspire his subordinates, and an unwillingness to devote energy to new technology were the stumbling blocks that led to the removal of Anders Igel, CEO of the Swedish-Finnish telecommunications company TeliaSonera on Monday.
      At its meeting late on Monday, the board of TeliaSonera effectively forced Igel to resign. He will leave his post at the end of July.
      "We need a new visionary management, which wants to aggressively put energy into different areas", explained Tom von Weymarn, the Finnish Chairman of the Board, on Tuesday.
     
The removal of Igel did not come as a great surprise. He had faced a good deal of criticism for many perceived shortcomings. One problem involved corporate ownership arrangements in Turkey and Russia. Constant cost-cutting measures sparked resentment among personnel, but at the same time, their limited scope angered the owners.
      The owners were also dissatisfied with the company's growth rate, even though the company's share price has doubled during Igel's five years at the helm.
      "Every age needs its own type of manager. Anders Igel is good at reorganising, but he is not a dynamic businessman who would see opportunities, and who would make long-term investments", said analyst Helena Nordman-Knutsson in Stockholm.
     
Igel rose to the position of CEO when the Swedish Telia and Finnish Sonera were merged in 2002. The new organisation was built under his leadership.
      The company's board made no secret about the criticism directed at the CEO. TeliaSonera has been criticised for being slow in setting new priorities.
      The company got a late start in Internet-based telephony, because it was afraid that it would undermine its profitable traditional land-line telephone operations.
      "The new company needs to dare to take action in spite of this risk", von Weymarn says. He says that he admires Norway's Telenor, which has entered the new markets in a completely different way.
      "Developments at Telenor have impressed me", he says.
      Tom von Weymarn expects that finding a new CEO should take between six and ten months. In the meantime, the post will be held temporarily by Deputy CEO Kim Ignatius.
     
The board was unanimous in its decision, although there was some reluctance on the part of representatives of personnel, but no dissenting opinions were issued.
      The decision was welcomed by investors, with the price of TeliaSonera shares rising by 3.6 per cent on the Stockholm Stock Exchange.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  TeliaSonera announces more spending cuts (25.4.2007)
  State representatives push through new board for TeliaSonera (18.1.2007)
  Power struggle leads to reshuffle of TeliaSonera board (11.12.2007)
  TeliaSonera to abandon country-based organisation structure (16.11.2006)
  European Commission to investigate TeliaSonera deals in Russia (28.3.2006)
  TeliaSonera cuts bonuses of Finnish managers after unsatisfactory year (22.3.2006)

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