Ratos: Anders Hofstedt new CEO of Hafa Bathroom Group

This information is disclosed in accordance with the Securities Markets Act, the Financial Instruments Trading Act or demands made in the exchange rule.

Anders Hofstedt has been appointed as the new CEO of Hafa Bathroom Group from 1 April. Anders Hofstedt was most recently with Maersk consulting where he worked as a senior project leader and manager.

Anders Hofstedt, born 1980, has worked with business development for almost ten years both as a consultant, at Bain & Company among others, and as a line manager at Lindab. In autumn 2013 Anders Hofstedt was a consultant to Hafa Bathroom Group and supported the company's management and board with implementation of an extensive action programme and the development of a new strategy. Anders Hofstedt succeeds Ola Andrée who has been CEO of Hafa Bathroom Group since 2002.

 "Hafa Bathroom Group has experienced a couple of tough years due among other things to weak consumer demand in the Nordic bathroom market. A number of action programmes have been carried out without achieving progress as fast as we would have liked. Ola has made a strong contribution to building up Hafa's good market position but it is now time for a fresh start for Hafa Bathroom Group in order to gain effects from action taken and to invest in the future. As part of this process, the board has decided that a change of CEO is required and has appointed Anders Hofstedt. Anders supported the company's management during the autumn in several internal projects which means that he will quickly get into day-to-day operations. Anders also possesses the sound experience of business development which we believe is required to strengthen Hafa Bathroom Group's presence in the Nordic bathroom market and to return the company to profitable growth," says Stig Karlsson, Chairman of the Board of Hafa Bathroom Group.

Hafa Bathroom Group with the Hafa and Westerbergs brands is one of the Nordic region's leading bathroom interior companies. The group has approximately 90 employees and the head office is in Halmstad, Sweden.

For further information, please contact:
Johan Pålsson, Senior Investment Manager, Ratos, +46 8 700 17 00
Stig Karlsson, Chairman of the Board, Hafa Bathroom Group, +46 706 41 13 45
Anders Hofstedt, CEO Hafa Bathroom Group, +46 76 723 49 60
Emma Rheborg, Head of Corporate Communications, Ratos, +46 8 700 17 20

Ratos is a private equity conglomerate. The company's mission is to maximise shareholder value over time through the professional, active and responsible exercise of its ownership role in primarily medium to large unlisted Nordic companies. Ratos's holdings include AH Industries, Aibel, Arcus-Gruppen, Biolin Scientific, Bisnode, DIAB, Euromaint, GS-Hydro, Hafa Bathroom Group, HENT, HL Display, Inwido, Jøtul, KVD, Mobile Climate Control, Nebula, Nordic Cinema Group and SB Seating. Ratos is listed on Nasdaq OMX Stockholm and market capitalisation amounts to approximately SEK 20 billion.