Olli Liitola, 47, Senior Partner and CFO of CapMan, has been named Deputy CEO as of 31 March 2005.
Tuomo Raasio, 46, Senior Partner of CapMan, will succeed Westerlund as Head of CapMan Buyout.
Ari Tolppanen, 51, CEO of CapMan since 1989, will continue as Senior Partner and it is intended that he also be nominated for Chairman of the Board at the organisation meeting of the new Board of Directors to be held on 31 March. It is intended that Teuvo Salminen be nominated for Vice Chairman of the Board at the same meeting. The final decision on the Chairman and Vice Chairman will be made by the composition of the Board of Directors that is elected by the Annual General Meeting to be held on 31 March. The candidates for election to the Board of Directors, in addition to Tolppanen and Salminen, are Lauri Koivusalo, Tapio Hintikka and Lennart Jacobsson. Shareholders representing more than ten (10) per cent of the votes attached to the shares of the company have informed the Board of Directors that they will propose to the Annual General Meeting this composition.
“The purpose of the new appointments is the implementation of succession in CapMan, and this has been in the planning for some time already,” states Ari Tolppanen. “The objective that was set in connection with the listing of the company, to grow CapMan into a Nordic private equity investor, has now been carried out successfully and integration has progressed well. In the next two years we intend to raise substantial new funds in all three of CapMan’s investment areas - Buyout, Technology and Life Science - and this is why the change of leadership felt justified right now. The timing was also partly influenced by a chronic inflammation of the bile ducts that I have been diagnosed with, which does not stop me from working for CapMan in full capacity, but requires regular monitoring as well as surgery at some stage.”
Heikki Westerlund states: “Under Ari’s leadership CapMan has consolidated its position as a leading Nordic private equity investor in recent years and the foundations for CapMan’s future development are good. Overseeing CapMan’s Nordic organisation will be a great but interesting challenge for me, together with the skilled and motivated personnel. I will pay special attention to the improvement of competitiveness in our current operations. The core objectives are supporting value creation in our portfolio companies through state-of-the-art Board work, enhancing co-operation between our teams and strengthening of the CapMan brand especially in Sweden, Denmark and Norway.”
Helsinki 15 March 2005
CapMan Plc
Board of Directors
For additional information, please contact:
Ari Tolppanen, CEO, tel. +358 9 6155 8307 or +358 500 407 343
Heikki Westerlund, CEO as of 31 March 2005, tel. +358 9 6155 8304 or +358 50 559 6580
Distribution:
Helsinki Exchanges
Principal media