New BP Chairman Is Ericsson’s Svanberg

Carl-Henric Svanberg is to replace Peter Sutherland, as chairman at BP PLc. Svanberg will take up his role on Sept. 1, where he will join the board as chairman-designate; he will also become a non-executive director. Svanberg who was Ericsson’s AB Chief Executive Officer will stay on as CEO until he becomes BP chairman.

BP has been working for months to find a replacement for Sutherland; Bloomberg said that he had to stay on because of the “turbulent business environment.” Paul Skiner was in the running for the chairman’s job, but this was hampered after he was embroiled in a shareholder dispute.

Ericsson has announced that Svanberg’s replacement, as CEO is Hans Vestberg, who will take up the role on January 1, 2010. BP hopes that Svanberg will be able to turn its fortunes around, just as he did with lockmaker Assa Abloy. While in control of the company, Svanberg saw at least 45 acquisitions, and its sales growth increased sevenfold.

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