By Anna Molin
STOCKHOLM--Swedish investment giant Industrivärden AB said that
Chairman Sverker Martin-Löf--one of the most powerful men in
Swedish business--is stepping down early, amid questions over
corporate governance.
The company added that it will shuffle a number of senior
directors and executives at some of its portfolio companies,
including at some of the Nordic's biggest corporate names--from
banking giant Svenska Handelsbanken AB to telecoms-equipment maker
Ericsson AB and construction giant Skanska AB. The move, disclosed
early Thursday, represents one of the biggest shake-ups of
corporate Sweden in decades.
The decision follows weeks of media scrutiny into the use by Mr.
Martin-Löf and other top managers of corporate jets owned by one of
Industrivärden's portfolio firms. It comes just days after
Industrivärden Executive Vice President Pär Östberg--responsible
for the company's investment operations since 2012 and widely seen
as the likely heir to Chief Executive Anders Nyren--stepped down
and left his board assignments at Ericsson and Skanska with little
explanation. Mr. Östberg wasn't available to comment and hasn't
spoken since.
The announcement of Mr. Martin-Löf's departure comes amid
broader questions from shareholders over the governing structure at
Industrivärden, which together with the Wallenberg-family's
Investor AB, controls a large swath of corporate Sweden.
Industrivärden was established by Handelsbanken in 1944 as a
vehicle to gather and distribute shareholdings that the bank had
accumulated in the 1930s in the wake of the global market
crash.
Over the years, it moved into managing employee pensions. It
then morphed into an active, long-term investor in its own right,
managing pensions for private and public entities, along with
investments by other long-term investors, including foundations and
individuals.
More recently, Industrivärden has been criticized for letting a
few key players, such as the 72-year-old Mr. Martin-Löf, hold too
much power at the company and across its portfolio companies. He
has defended the structure as necessary to maintain influence over
the group's holdings, though he has recently said that it could
benefit from spreading key posts across more people.
Mr. Martin-Löf had earlier signaled his intention to leave in
2016. But his involvement and handling of a corporate-jet
controversy at SCA AB, a hygiene and forest products company in
Industrivärden's portfolio, have recently fueled criticism.
The Swedish daily newspaper Svenska Dagbladet last year reported
that SCA has been using the company's private jets to transport top
managers on trips to hunting lodges in northern Sweden, the Olympic
Games in London and to a soccer championship in Kiev--sometimes
with wives, children, grandchildren and even dogs in tow.
Mr. Martin-Löf has maintained that the trips were business
related or in keeping with global industry norms. But the
allegations sparked particularly strong controversy in Sweden, amid
the country's long-cherished ideals of egalitarianism.
In addition to his chairmanship at Industrivarden, Mr.
Martin-Löf will give up his roles as chairman of both SCA and
steelmaker SSAB AB. He is also vice chairman of Handelsbanken and
Ericsson, and a board member at Skanska. His departure from
Industrivärden and all other board assignments will be effective
from the companies' annual general meetings in the spring.
Industrivärden said that in future, senior executives of
portfolio companies won't serve on its board, and only to a limited
extent on the boards of other portfolio companies. Industrivärden
said that it will make a number of recommendations to the
nominating committees for the companies affected.
Mr. Nyren will be asked to take over as chairman. Fredrik
Lundberg, chief executive of key Industrivärden shareholder, L E
Lundbergföretagen, will be proposed as vice chairman. A recruitment
process for a new chief executive of the investment company is
under way, Industrivärden said.
Mr. Nyren will also be asked to step down as chairman of
Handelsbanken, and the bank's Chief Executive Pär Boman will be
proposed as the new chairman. Industrivärden said that it will
recommend an announcement on a successor to Mr. Boman be made
before the bank's annual general meeting in March.
Mr. Boman will also be recommended as new chairman of SCA and as
a new board director of Skanska. Bengt Kjell, formerly vice
president of Industrivärden, will be recommended as new chairman of
SSAB, and Mr. Nyren will be proposed as a board member of
Ericsson.
Write to Anna Molin at anna.molin@wsj.com
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