Ericsson announced that chairman of the board of directors Leif Johansson, who has served in the role from 2011, has informed that he will not make himself available for re-election at the annual general meeting of shareholders 2018, and that it has therefore begun the search for a replacement.
Ericsson's nomination committee stated it has commenced the search for a new chairman. The company announced on June 1st that its nomination committee, under chairman Petra Hedengran, comprised the following members: Petra Hedengran, Investor AB; Bengt Kjell, AB Industrivärden and Handelsbankens Pensionsstiftelse; Christer Gardell, Cevian Funds; Anders Oscarsson, AMF Försäkring och Fonder; Johan Held, Afa Försäkring; and Leif Johansson, the chairman of the board.
In March, Ericsson announced a corporate reorganisation under president and CEO, Börje Ekholm that eliminated its existing two-tiered leadership structure, Executive Leadership Team and Global Leadership Team, and replaced it with a single executive team. In addition, the existing ten geographic regions were simplified into five regions, and the structure of five market areas was reduced to three.
At the same time, Ericsson stated it was exploring strategic opportunities for its Media business and IT cloud infrastructure hardware business.
As of April 1st, Ericsson's business areas are as follows: Networks; Digital Services; and Managed Services. Market areas are as follows: North America; Europe & Latin America; Middle East & Africa; North East Asia; South East Asia, Oceania & India.
Regarding his decision, board chairman Leif Johansson said, "… (In) the first quarter Ericsson presented a new, more focused business strategy… (which) supported by the board and the major owners, creates a solid foundation for realising Ericsson's full potential… the company now enters a new phase, with focus on execution and a new ownership constellation… it is natural to let the owners jointly propose a chairman and ahead of this I want to announce that I will not be available for a next term".
