Danish international shipping and logistics company DFDS said that Niels Smedegaard, longtime CEO, will step down by the end of April. Current CFO Torben Carlsen will take over as new CEO.
In close partnership with Niels Smedegaard, Torben Carlsen has been in-strumental in making DFDS a larger, stronger and more profitable company and will thus contribute to ensuring continuity in the development and op-eration of the company.
Niels Smedegaard has been CEO of DFDS since 1 January 2007.
Niels said: “My time at DFDS has been a fantastic journey, and I am proud of the progress that has been made for the company and its employees, cus-tomers and shareholders since I joined. It has been a difficult decision to say goodbye but having managed the company for over 12 years, the time has come to move on and use my energy and experience in board position. DFDS is strongly positioned for the future, and I feel very confident about passing on the steering wheel to Torben and I wish him good speed for the future.”
“I owe everyone at DFDS – from the individual employees to the rest of the management team and the Board – a big thank you for the good years we have had together. We have shared many great experiences and overcome considerable challenges together. I will take all this with me,” he added.
Torben Carlsen is 53 and has a broad and international managerial back-ground, with leading positions in Switzerland and the USA, primarily within the airline industry. In addition to this comes experience from private equity.