Nepa CEO P-O Westerlund Steps Down

P-O Westerlund, CEO of Sweden-based brand tracking and consumer science firm Nepa, has decided to step down from his role, saying that the job has 'taken its toll'. Chairman Ulrich Boyer will replace him as interim CEO until a permanent replacement is found.

Nepa is headquartered in Stockholm, with offices in Norway, Finland, Denmark, the UK, the USA and India. Westerlund (pictured) joined the company in 2009 and was named CEO at the beginning of last year. Before joining he spent eight years as Head of M&A and IR at Nasdaq OMX-listed A-Com AB, the Nordic region's largest marcoms agency, helping to return it to profit; and he co-founded and ran two other companies.

Boyer, who is one of the founders of the company, has been the Chairman of the Board for more than a decade, and is also the company's largest shareholder. His previous experience included founding ECI Media Management, Bintess, Timba, and People in Store (which became part of strategic consultancy BlueCarrot - later acquired by Nepa), and MediaTaktik (sold to Starcom). Earlier he was CEO of NMA Nordisk Media Analysis, which became BlueCarrot. While a permanent CEO is sought for Nepa, Katarina Bonde takes over temporarily as Chairman of the Board.

Westerlund will remain a member of Nepa's Board of Directors, and as one of the company's major shareholders, and he will be around to assist Boyer until a permanent CEO takes office. Westerlund said stepping down had been a very difficult decision. 'I have been involved in building the business from an early stage, the international expansion as well as the public listing of the company. I'm pleased with how I - together with all my amazing colleagues - have managed to reverse the trend over the past 1.5 years - from an operating loss of MSEK 23 to an operating profit of almost MSEK 30 LTM. I am very proud of what we have achieved, but it has also taken its toll and that is why I have decided to take a break'.

Web site: www.nepa.com .