Posten and Post Danmark merged, new management team appointed

The historic merger between Post Danmark A/S and Posten AB has been accomplished. The merger will provide enhanced competitiveness on an increasingly competitive market which is seriously exposed to the current economic crisis. The merger strengthens the prospects for ensuring first-class postal service into the future.
 
The transaction
After all final transactions have been completed the Danish state owns 39.3 per cent of the new parent company. In return, the Danish state transferred 97.2 per cent of Post Danmark A/S shares to the new company. The remaining three per cent of Post Danmark A/S shares are held by employees and will be redeemed. The Swedish state transferred 100 per cent of Posten AB shares and received 60.7 per cent of the shares in the new parent company. As part of the transaction, Posten AB distributed a dividend of SEK 1,400m to the Swedish state pursuant to an agreement between the owners. Votes are split evenly, 50/50, between the Danish and Swedish states.
 
The parent company is a Swedish public limited liability company operating (until further notice) under the business name Posten Norden AB (publ). The company will be governed based on principles agreed upon by the owners and, where applicable, on the Swedish Code of Corporate Governance.
 
The entire Board of Posten Norden AB will be appointed during an extraordinary general meeting in August 2009. Board member nominees for the period extending through the 2010 annual meeting are: Fritz Schur, Mats Abrahamsson, Ingrid Bonde, Gunnel Duveblad, Anne Birgitte Lundholt and Richard Reinius. Fritz Schur has been nominated as Chairman for the period extending through the 2010 general meeting. The Danish state will nominate an additional two board members before the extraordinary general meeting in August.
 
An interim board, consisting of Fritz Schur (chairman), Anne Birgitte Lundholt, Marianne Nivert and Richard Reinius, is in place for the period preceding the extraordinary general meeting in August 2009.
 
Marianne Nivert has announced that she does not wish to be reelected to the board. 
 
One Danish and two Swedish board members, as well as deputy board members, will be appointed from employee organisations.
 
- Large companies in small countries need a larger natural home market, and they also need to look for economies of scale. These two factors are the basis of the merger. Being a major operator will also be advantageous in terms of taking an active role in the future deregulation of the European postal market. The joint group consolidates unique knowledge and competencies, and both companies stand for high quality and a desire to develop in pace with changing customer needs. The joint group offers us improved opportunities to develop our communication and logistics operations while maintaining a world-class postal service, says Fritz H. Schur, Chairman of the Board of the new group.
 
Organisational structure
The new group's operational structure consists of four business units. The traditional postal operations in each country will be run in business units Meddelande Sverige and Breve Danmark. The group's integrated logistics operations will be run in business unit Logistik. Information logistics operations and other operations within Strålfors AB will be run in business unit Informationslogistik.
 
Seven group functions have been established for executive management and coordination: Finance and Treasury, Operations Development, Business Development, Communication, HR, Legal and IT. 
 
- We've been able to make preparations for the merger since the EU Commission granted its approval last April. We now have an excellent management line-up, one that possesses the right competencies and views on what we're facing in terms of our continued work to unite our operations. We are going to ensure both that our customers receive the service they've come to expect and that the 30 million mail pieces we deliver daily reach the correct recipients on time. At the same time, we'll implement the next step in the integration to quickly bring home the advantages of this historic merger and create the most competitive Nordic alternative for all customers looking for communication and logistics solutions to, from and within the Nordic region, says Lars G Nordström.
 
In addition to Lars G Nordström, the new group's executive management team is comprised of:
 
- K. B. Pedersen, Executive Vice President and Head of the group function Operations Development. Pedersen is currently Deputy CEO of Post Danmark A/S.
- Göran Sällqvist, Executive Vice President and Head of group function Business Development. Sällqvist is currently Executive Vice President in Posten AB.
- Andreas Falkenmark, Head of business unit Meddelande Sverige. Andreas Falkenmark is currently President of Posten Meddelande AB.
- Finn Hansen, Head of business unit Breve Danmark. Finn Hansen is currently Deputy Director of Brevproduktion & Transport in Post Danmark A/S.
- Henrik Höjsgaard, Head of business unit Logistics. Henrik Höjsgaard is currently President of Posten Logistik AB.
- Per Samuelson, Head of business unit Information Logistics. Per Samuelson is currently President of Strålfors AB.
- Palle Juliussen, Head of group function HR. Palle Juliussen is currently a member of Post Danmark's management, with HR as one of his areas of responsibility.
- Joss Delissen, Chief Information Officer and Head of group function IT. Joss Delissen is currently CIO of Posten AB.
- Bo Friberg, Chief Financial Officer and Head of group function Finance and Treasury. Bo Friberg is currently CFO of Posten AB.
- Per Mossberg, Head of group function Corporate Communications. Per Mossberg is currently Head of Corporate Communications at Posten AB.
- Viveca Bergstedt Sten, General Counsel and Head of group function Legal. Viveca Bergstedt Sten is currently General Counsel for Posten AB.
 
 
Posten Norden's President and CEO has also appointed deputies managers within the following functions: 
 
- Torsten Fels, Deputy CFO. Torsten Fels is currently a member of Post Danmark's management, with Finance and Treasury as one of his areas of responsibility. 
- Herman Petersson, Deputy CIO. Herman Petersson is currently Head of Business Integration at Post Danmark.
- Lars Kaspersen, Deputy Head of Corporate Communications. Lars Kaspersen is currently Head of Corporate Communications for Post Danmark.
- Carsten Dalbo Pedersen, Deputy Head of the business unit Logistics. Carsten Dalbo Pedersen is currently Deputy Director of Courier, Express and Paket at Post Danmark.
- Jens Heurlin,  Deputy General Counsel and Deputy Head of group function Legal. Jens Heurlin is currently General Counsel at Post Danmark.
 
Jørn Schmidt has been appointed as co-opted to the new Group Executive Management. He is currently Head of the Management Secretariat in Post Danmark and will be working in the Group Executive Management on the initial planning process for the new group.
 
Søren Kongsbo has been appointed Head of Internal Audits in the new group and is currently Head of Internal Audits at Post Danmark. Mats Tun­björk has been appointed Deputy Head of Internal Audits. He is currently Head of Internal Audits at Posten AB.
 
Ernst & Young AB has been appointed auditor for the new group for the period extending through the 2011 general meeting. Authorised Public Accountant Lars Träff is auditor in charge.
 
Compensation
As compensation for heading the Nordic region's leading communication and logistics operations, with roughly 50,000 employees and sales of around SEK 45 billion, the President and CEO will receive compensation in the form of a fixed salary totalling SEK 690,000 per month. No bonus, other variable compensation or severance package will be provided. A pension provision of 30 per cent of the base salary will be made.
 
Lars G Nordström took up the post of President and CEO on 1 July 2008. He elected to not receive any salary or other compensation during the period July 2008 through March 2009.
 
Background
On 1 April 2008, the Swedish and Danish states announced their signing of a letter of intent for the merger of Post Danmark A/S and Posten AB. The Danish Parliament approved the merger on 12 June 2008, and the Swedish Parliament did so on 18 June.
 
The Danish Ministry of Transport and the Swedish Ministry of Enterprise, Energy and Communications signed a combined agreement on 2 February 2009. The two companies submitted a joint application with the EU Commission of 26 February 2009. The merger was approved by the EU Commission on 21 April 2009. The Commission's approval was contingent upon Post Danmark A/S and Posten AB reducing their market share on the Danish business parcel market.
 
 
Main organisational structure and main legal structure for Posten Norden can be downloaded by the link below.
 
 
Please direct any questions to:
Lars G Nordström, President and Group CEO, Posten Norden AB
Per Mossberg, Head of group function Corporate Communications, Posten Norden AB
Contact through Posten Media Relations, phone: + 46 (0)8-23 10 10
 
 
 Posten connects people and organizations around the world by delivering mail promptly, reliably and cost-effectively. We drive value creation by combining conventional postal services and convenient electronic solutions, and integrating these services into customer businesses. With over 4,000 retail service outlets, we provide daily service to 4.5 million homes and 900,000 businesses in Sweden. Every day we handle close to 20 million pieces of mail. With sales over SEK 30 billion and roughly 30,000 employees, the group is one of the largest in Sweden. The group's parent, Posten AB (publ), is wholly owned by the Swedish Government. For more information, please visit our website at www.posten.se