Ministry of Employment and the Economy (MEE)
Press Release 165/2014
1 September 2014
Martin Backman appointed President & CEO of Finnish Industry Investment Ltd
Finnish Industry Investment Ltd’s Board of Directors has appointed Martin Backman (44), MSc (Tech), MSc (Econ), to be the company’s new President & CEO. Martin Backman, who has extensive experience in Nordic private equity, will start as President & CEO on 1 September 2014. He was previously Managing Director of CVC Capital Partners in Stockholm.
Juha Marjosola, President & CEO since the founding of the company almost twenty years ago, will continue in the company as Senior Advisor until his retirement in September 2015. With Juha Marjosola at the helm, the company has become a very respected and significant player in the private equity and venture capital industry.
“As the company’s new President & CEO, Mr Backman’s international experience in private equity markets will be very useful. Finnish Industry Investment’s activities are aimed at internationalising our country’s private equity and venture capital industry. The external evaluation published by the Ministry earlier this year provides guidelines for changes” says Minister of Economic Affairs Jan Vapaavuori.
Sakari Tamminen appointed Board Chairman
In conjunction with these changes, Jukka Alho will retire as Board Chairman. Sakari Tamminen, M.Sc. (Econ), has been elected as the new Chairman of the company’s Board of Directors with effect from 1 September 2014.
“The company’s responsibility has been widened to encompass investments promoting the Government’s industrial policy, in addition to private equity investment. After the company’s focus had changed, I felt a handover of board responsibility would best serve the future development of the company,” explains Jukka Alho.
“Jukka Alho has chaired Finnish Industry Investment’s board with professionalism since 2012, carried through development projects, and overseen the selection of a new President & CEO, for which I would like to express my heartfelt thanks. Sakari Tamminen’s solid industrial experience supplements the diversified skills profile required of Industry Investment’s Board and provides an excellent springboard for developing the company’s operations over the next few years,” Vapaavuori points out.
The new Board Chairman’s background also strengthens the successful launching of the EUR 100 million investment programme for industrial renewal proposed in the budget framework talks conducted this spring by Prime Minister Katainen’s administration as well as the company’s role as an instrument of industrial policy. The new programme will focus venture capital on selected strategic themes / growth areas including the cleantech, bioeconomy, digital economy and health technology sectors.
Finnish Industry Investment invests in growth companies, both directly and through private equity funds, together with and on the same terms as private investors. The company has assets under management amounting to over EUR 900 million. The company has invested, directly or through funds, in some 515 companies, which together employ over 50,000 people.
For further information, please contact:
Petri Peltonen, Director General, MEE, tel. +358 295 063 662