BP Plc, Europe’s second-biggest oil company, named Ericsson AB chief executive officer Carl-Henric Svanberg to replace Peter Sutherland as chairman.
Svanberg, 57, will join the BP board as chairman-designate and a non-executive director on Sept. 1, the company said yesterday in an e-mailed statement. Ericsson said Svanberg will remain as its CEO until he becomes BP chairman at the end of the year.
Sutherland said in March he had agreed to stay on because the “turbulent business environment” was hampering the search for a replacement. London-based BP suffered a setback in February when Paul Skinner, then chairman of Rio Tinto Group who was cited by the Times as a candidate, became embroiled in a shareholder dispute. Skinner stepped down at Rio Tinto in April.
BP CEO Tony Hayward said earlier this month his company’s search was “proceeding very well” and it expected to make an announcement by August.
Ericsson yesterday said it appointed chief financial officer Hans Vestberg to replace Svanberg as CEO as of Jan. 1. Svanberg has been CEO of Ericsson since April 2003 and was president and CEO of Assa Abloy AB from 1994 to 2003.
Svanberg turned Assa Abloy into the world’s biggest lockmaker with at least 45 acquisitions and sevenfold sales growth. He became the telecommunication company’s fourth CEO in five years, arriving after it had suffered seven quarters of losses totaling US$4.7 billion.
BP said Svanberg would be based in London and devote the majority of his time to the oil company.
“BP is a recognized world leader in the energy sector and it’s a great privilege to be invited to lead its board,” Svanberg said in the statement. “I’m hugely excited about joining the energy industry, which is so much at the heart of the global economy.”
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