Johan Forssell new President and CEO of Investor from the Annual General Meeting 2015

Investor’s Board of Directors has appointed Johan Forssell as new President and CEO as of May 12, 2015. Johan is 43 years old and was employed by Investor in 1995. He has been a member of Investor’s Management Group and Head of Core Investments since 2006. Johan is currently a board member in Atlas Copco and Saab.

Johan Forssell succeeds Börje Ekholm who is leaving his position after almost ten years as President and CEO. Börje Ekholm will also resign from Investor’s Board of Directors on May 12, 2015.

During the past few years, Investor has strengthened its ownership in a number of its listed core investments and worked consistently to improve the ownership processes. Being a professional, clear and supportive owner of its investments is imperative for investor and its future returns. When attractive opportunities arise, Investor’s ambition is to continue to strengthen its ownership in selected listed core investments. Simultaneously, during the past years Investor has worked consistently to strengthen the cash flow generation capacity in its wholly-owned subsidiaries. This has been a strategic objective in order to create a proprietary cash flow that allows increased capacity to support value-creating initiatives in our holdings, capture investment opportunities without having to fund these by divestitures, pay a steadily rising dividend and create unique long-term value for Investor’s shareholders.

In line with this, Investor now takes another step to evolve its model. To clarify the ownership in the listed investments and add additional wholly-owned subsidiaries, a new division will be established. Investor’s organization will thereby consist of two clear divisions – one focusing on active ownership in listed core investments and one focusing on the development and expansion of the portfolio of wholly-owned subsidiaries. The new division, Patricia Industries, will include all existing wholly-owned subsidiaries and all investments within the current Financial Investments except for EQT and Investor’s trading. Over time, some investments within Financial Investments will be divested, with the proceeds being reinvested in wholly-owned subsidiaries. In addition, the new division will have an initial funding commitment of SEK 6.0 bn. The new division will have offices in Stockholm and New York. The new division will be run independently, with its own Board or Committee making the investment decisions. Börje Ekholm will be responsible for the division and the Board/decision-making committee will include Marcus Wallenberg, Jacob Wallenberg and Johan Forssell, as well as external members with relevant experience.

“Investor’s ambition is to be a professional, clear and supportive owner. Through our new structure, we can enhance our model further to enable successful ownership in both listed and unlisted world-class companies. Investor’s Board of Directors and I are very happy that Johan Forssell has assumed the role of leading Investor going forward and that Börje Ekholm will continue to contribute his extensive competence to create long-term value for Investor’s shareholders”, comments Jacob Wallenberg.

“It is a great inspiration to get to lead Investor based on a strategic direction that provides a good foundation for creating attractive long-term value for our shareholders. I am looking forward to further sharpening our model of being a professional and supportive owner of our world-leading companies. I am also very glad to be able to retain Börje Ekholm’s competence in the new division that we now create in order to accelerate our build-up of wholly-owned long-term investments”, comments Johan Forssell.

“Following almost ten years as President and CEO of Investor, it feels natural to hand over to a new President and CEO. In Johan Forssell, Investor will have a very skilled leader that will develop the company further”, states Börje Ekholm.

Investor’s listed core investments are: SEB, Atlas Copco, ABB, AstraZeneca, Ericsson, Wärtsilä, Electrolux, Sobi, Nasdaq, Saab and Husqvarna.

Patricia Industries will include Mölnlycke Health Care, Aleris, Permobil, Grand Group, Vectura, Investor Growth Capital, 3 Scandinavia, Active Biotech, Affibody, Alligator, Atlas Antibodies, Kunskapsskolan, Memira, Newron, Samsari and Tobii.

Press conference
For additional information about the announced changes, Investor will hold a press conference for media and financial analysts at Arsenalsgatan 8C, January 28, 2015, directly following the presentation of the Year-End Report 2014 at 10:00 CET.

For further information:

Stefan Stern, Head of Corporate Relations and Communications, Phone 46 8 614 2058, 46 70 636 7417
Magnus Dalhammar, Head of Investor Relations, Phone 46 8 614 2130, 46 73 524 2130

Our press releases can be accessed at www.investorab.com

Investor, founded by the Wallenberg family a hundred years ago, is the leading owner of high quality Nordic-based international companies. Through board participation, our industrial experience, network and financial strength, we strive to make our companies best-in-class. Our holdings include, among others, Atlas Copco, SEB, ABB, Ericsson and Mölnlycke Health Care.