Cargotec Leadership Team Change, Pekka Ala-Pietilä to be Chair of the Board

[By: Cargotec]

As part of the planned separation of Kalmar by partial demerger, announced on 27 April 2023, the Cargotec Board of Directors has concluded that it will propose in the forthcoming Cargotec Annual General Meeting to be held on H1/2024 that the Chair of the Board of the proposed standalone Kalmar would be Pekka Ala-Pietilä. Until the consummation of the proposed demerger, Pekka Ala-Pietilä will serve as consultant for Cargotec to assist in forming of standalone Kalmar.

In addition, the Cargotec Board proposes that current Board members Teresa Kemppi-Vasama and Tapio Kolunsarka would be elected as members of the Board of standalone Kalmar upon the completion of the contemplated demerger. 

The Board has decided to establish a new external Demerger Committee consisting of Pekka Ala-Pietilä, Teresa Kemppi-Vasama and Tapio Kolunsarka to support listing readiness preparations.  Teresa Kemppi-Vasama and Tapio Kolunsarka will continue to serve as members of the Cargotec Board. The Demerger Committee will oversee the preparations for listing readiness and corporate governance matters for the potential standalone Kalmar. Planning will continue throughout 2023 and the potential separate listing of Kalmar on Nasdaq Helsinki would, if carried out, take place in 2024. 

 “The planning is progressing in line with previously communicated timeline and objectives. Establishing the Demerger Committee will help us to ensure an effective and successful planning sequence and a successful transition of Kalmar into a separate standalone listed company”, says Jaakko Eskola, Chair of the Cargotec Board of Directors. 

Furthermore, the Board of Directors of Cargotec has, as part of the demerger planning and listing readiness decided to strengthen the Presidency of Kalmar. The Board has agreed with Michel Van Roozendaal that he will step down as President of Kalmar and as member of Cargotec leadership team effective immediately. 

The Board has therefore decided to appoint Cargotec President and CEO Casimir Lindholm to also act as interim President of Kalmar as of today until the search for a permanent CEO of Kalmar has been completed as part of the planned demerger process. 

“Kalmar is performing and developing well, but the Board believes that Kalmar needs a new leader with extensive experience to drive Kalmar’s transition and planned listing readiness capabilities. Casimir is well positioned to lead Kalmar during the coming very important months, while also maintaining his current responsibilities as Cargotec CEO”, says Jaakko Eskola.

“First, I would like to take this opportunity to thank Michel for his time at Cargotec. Moving ahead there is a huge and inspiring opportunity in front of us. I look forward to working closely with the Kalmar team on the listing readiness. In the meantime, Kalmar is moving forward and will continue to connect with customers, offering them world class equipment and service”, says Casimir Lindholm.

Moreover, as part of this change in Kalmar leadership, Mikael Laine, SVP Strategy, will act as interim COO of Kalmar business area, in addition to his current role. As of 1 July 2023, Sakari Ahdekivi was appointed to serve as the CFO of Kalmar.

“The announced appointments and changes in Kalmar will help us with the rigorous planning and listing process and in parallel to ensure business continuity and further value creation”, Casimir Lindholm concludes. 

The CV’s of the persons serving as members of the external Demerger Committee are available at Cargotec’s website.