CEO departs Svenska Spel

Jul 02, 2010
Only eighteen months after taking office, Meta Persdotter bows out

The Swedish state gambling company Svenska Spel has announced the departure of chief executive officer Meta Persdotter after a mere 18 months in office, giving no detailed reasons for her departure, or any indication as to her future plans.

The ousting comes only a week after marketing director Tomas Agrell was given notice, although the Svenska Spel directors say the two departures are not related. Agrell has been replaced by Peter Jannero, whilst the company's financial director Anders Hagg is running the company pro tem whilst a new chief executive is sought.

Margareta Winberg, chairwoman for Svenska Spel, said in the statement: “Meta Persdotter's mission has been to increase efforts to strengthen Svenska Spel's social responsibility, a task she has carried out successfully and something that will be of increasing importance for the company in the future.

“During the last year, Svenska Spel has also implemented some extensive organisational changes with mixed results. After assessing the whole situation, the Board Of Directors has decided to recruit a new chief executive officer for Svenska Spel.

“In terms of profits, last year marked Svenska Spel's third best year ever in spite of fiercer market competition and increased efforts to strengthen gaming responsibility.”

Winberg revealed that it could take 'at least a year' to find a suitable replacement for Persdotter, who was hired in January 2009 as a replacement for Jesper Karrbrink.

Answering questions from the Swedish newspaper The Local.se, Winberg emphasised that the departure of the two executives was not related. Although she said little concerning Persdotter, she revealed with remarkable frankness that the decision to dismiss Agrell had been taken because he proved unsuitable.

"One can truly say that it was a poor hiring decision. He had to go,” she said, adding: “When one deals with such a large business, sometimes it works well in certain parts and not as well in others. Now we have launched this and we will enter a new phase. We think that it would be good if a new chief executive officer takes over.”
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