The outgoing chief executive of Norwegian state-owned oil firm Petoro is to join Aibel as chairman.
Kjell Pedersen has a degree in petroleum engineering from Trondheim and had a long career in Exxon/ExxonMobil before joining Petoro in 2001.
In addition to Pedersen, Aibel said the rest of the board would include Helge Midttun, a business economist and former CEO of Det Norske Veritas, Torfinn Kildal, former CEO of Kongsberggruppen and SIMRAD, and Henrik Joelsson, an investment director with Ratos.
Aibel also announcd that the relevant authorities had approved a new ownership model in Aibel and said that the transaction had now been completed.
Background: On 17 December last year Ferd and Herkules Capital signed an agreement with Ratos for the sale of oil service company Aibel. In the new agreement, Ferd and Ratos each control 50%. Ferd has held a strong ownership position since 2007, while Ratos is a new Aibel owner.
Ratos itself owns approx. 32%, while Swedish Sjätte AP-fonden (Allmänna Pensjonsfond) owns approx. 18%. However, Ratos will handle Sjätte AP-fonden's ownership interests such that the company thereby represents 50% of total ownership interests in Aibel. Ferd owns and controls 50%.