Nina Jönsson new CEO in ICA
Per Strömberg has chosen to leave ICA Gruppen, where he has served as CEO since 2012. The Board of Directors has appointed Nina Jönsson as the new CEO. She is currently CEO of Plantagen, a garden chain.
This is ICA
ICA Gruppen AB is one of the leading retail companies in the Nordics with a focus on food and health.
The Group includes ICA Sweden and Rimi Baltic which mainly conduct grocery retail, ICA Real Estate which owns and manages properties, ICA Bank which offers financial services, ICA Insurance and Apotek Hjärtat which conducts pharmacy operations.
In 2021, ICA Gruppen had a turnover of approximately SEK 128 billion.
ICA also have a history in Norway, as owner of RIMI, a low-cost chain bought from the business tycoon Stein Erik Hagen. ICA pulled out of Norway with losses in the billions in 2014.
“I am happy that Nina Jönsson has accepted the job as CEO of ICA Gruppen,” comments Claes Göran Sylvén, Chairman of ICA Gruppen.
“With the combination of her broad background from both supplier and retailer operations, she has unique experience that is required for the role as CEO of ICA Gruppen. Nina also has a broad foundation of business knowledge and perhaps most important of all is a highly regarded former leader within ICA with a keen understanding of the ICA model, having served for six years as Director of Assortment and Buying for ICA Sweden,” Sylvén adds.
Insider crimes
Before the turn of the year 2021, the management and shareholders chose to take ICA off the stock exchange, to the chagrin of many. The process valued ICA to SEK 107, 4 billion, twenty-four times calculated net result in 2021.
The process also gave rise to a major insider scandal, the biggest, in value terms, in Swedish history. The suspicions of serious insider crimes have cast a dark shadow over ICA, but Claes-Göran Sylvén is not suspected of any wrongdoing. However, he does not want to answer any questions about the development of events in the insider scandal. He is also known for keeping his cards close, especially towards journalists.
"feels like the right point in time"
“I had set a goal to serve at ICA for a prolonged period when I started in 2012, and I feel that ten years amply meets this goal. says departing CEO Per Strömberg.
"With the ownership change that was announced last autumn (ICA was delisted) I felt it was important to stay on and lead ICA Gruppen through the process and contribute to its journey of change. We have now made timely progress on this path, and it therefore feels like the right point in time for me to conclude my operational role" he adds.
“Contributes in so many ways to people’s daily lives”
Nina Jönsson, will take the position as CEO from 2023.
“It will be exciting to return to ICA Gruppen, and of course it feels extra stimulating to take on the role as CEO. I have always been motivated by collaborating closely with consumers, and in this regard, ICA is the strongest force in the industry," Jönsson says, and adds:
"Through its grocery retail, pharmacy, banking, insurance and real estate businesses, ICA contributes in so many ways to people’s daily lives. In the Baltic countries, Rimi has equally strong and important customer relationships. What I am looking forward to most of all is working together with all ICA’s employees and retailers to continue developing the ICA Idea, ICA’s entrepreneurial spirit and its customer focus.”
Sources: ICA, DN, Fri Köpenskap, NHH.