Bertland elected to Beijer Ref board
3rd March 2021
SWEDEN: Per Bertland, currently CEO of Beijer Ref, has been elected to the board of the Swedish refrigeration and air conditioning wholesaling group.
Bertland announced his intention to step down as CEO in January after eight years in the role. Beijer Ref’s largest shareholder, EQT Private Equity, subsequently called for Bertland’s nomination as a member of the company’s board of directors.
At today’s EGM, Per Bertland was elected to the board, along with Kate Swann and Albert Gustafsson from EQT. They replace Bernt Ingman, Bill Striebe, Monica Gimre and Gregory Alcorn, who had all made their seats available and resigned as board members.
Kate Swann was elected as chairman. It was also decided that the board would consist of six members until the AGM next month. Joen Magnusson, Peter Jessen Jürgensen and Frida Norrbom Sams remain as board members.
Awards
Kate Swann has been an advisor to Beijer Ref shareholder EQT since 2020 and holds no shares in Beijer Ref. She has more than 30 years of experience in top management positions including serving as CEO of British multinational contract foodservice company, SSP Group, from 2013 until 2019 and as CEO of WH Smith from 2003 until 2013.
She was awarded the National Business Awards Daily Telegraph Special Award for a decade of excellence in business during her tenure at WH Smith and in 2006 Fortune Magazine listed Kate as one of the 50 most powerful women in business internationally. In 2002, Swann was awarded the Chairman’s Special Award from The Institute for Turnaround and in 2019 she received the award for business leader of the year from the Evening Standard Business Awards.
Albert Gustafsson is head of private equity Sweden and a partner at EQT. Prior to joining EQT, Albert spent five years at Lehman Brothers in London. He, also, holds no shares in Beijer Ref.
Bertland will step down as CEO when a successor has been found or during the latter part of 2021 at the latest. He holds 2,361,000 Class A shares, 177,000 Class B shares and 30,000 options in Beijer Ref.
Global investment firm EQT became Beijer Ref’s largest shareholder last year after acquiring the shares previously held by Carrier, giving it 29.6% of the capital and 26.4% of the votes.
Related stories:
Bertland to step down as Beijer Ref CEO – 27 January 2021
SWEDEN: Per Bertland is to step down as CEO of refrigeration and air conditioning wholesaler Beijer Ref. Read more…
Carrier to sell Beijer Ref stake for $1.1bn – 7 December 2020
USA: Carrier is to sell its remaining shares in the Swedish refrigeration and air conditioning wholesaler Beijer Ref for $1.1bn. Read more…
