Drastic changes in Accell Group Executive Board

HERENVEEN – The Supervisory Board of Accell Group announces the appointment of two new members to the Board of Directors. Toine van Doremalen has been appointed Chief Financial Officer (CFO), succeeding Ruben Baldew. Jonas Nilsson will assume the role of Chief Operating Officer (COO), succeeding Francesca Gamboni.

The top of Accell Group changes radically within a relatively short period of time. The reasons why the current board members leave are not further explained. After the sudden departure of CEO Ton Anbeek in March, new people have now also been appointed to the positions of CFO and COO. CFO Baldew is leaving after almost 5 years, while COO Gamboni, who came over from Stellantis, has already left after more than 1.5 years. Anbeek’s leadership position is provisionally held ad interim by Juan de Ochoa, interim CEO and chairman of the Board of Directors. He is a partner at investment firm and co-owner of KKR. A new, more definitive director will also be appointed for the position of CEO.

These are different times, which show a big difference with the past. René Takens took the crown by leading Accell for almost 20 years as CEO. The late Jeroen Snijders-Blok worked for Accell for 19 years, 15 of which as COO. In the almost 23 years that he worked at Accell, Hielke Sybesma was CFO at Accell for 17.5 years.

According to Accell, the strategic appointments of the new directors are in line with the ambition to further accelerate growth and to position itself as an integrated European bicycle company. “We are delighted to welcome Toine and Jonas as new members of the Board of Directors. We are convinced that their broad industry experience and fresh perspective will enable us to drive operational and commercial excellence. In this way we can continue to grow our company and take advantage of the opportunities that we see for Accell in the market,” says CEO De Ochoa.

The appointment of CFO Toine van Doremalen takes effect immediately. He has international experience in finance and management positions and has lived and worked in Europe, the United States and Asia. With a career spanning more than 20 years, he is an expert in integration, transformation and value creation alongside exceptional financial acumen and operational excellence knowledge. Toine has held various financial leadership positions at Philips and most recently was CFO of LeasePlan.

Jonas Nilsson, who starts July 3, has experience in product development, operations management and leadership positions in the automotive industry, along with several years in the consumer goods industry. Jonas has more than 25 years of relevant experience in various industries and he has had several home countries. This diverse background has given him a deep understanding of operational excellence, supply chain management, strategic decision making and general management.

Juan de Ochoa looks back at the departing drivers. “Ruben has spent more than 4 years working on improving Accell Group’s financial performance as a listed company, followed by the successful transition from a public to private company last year,” says De Ochoa. “Francesca has been with us for just over a year and in this time she has introduced a new direction for SCM. We wish them both the best for the future. We are grateful to Ruben and Francesca for the role they played in positioning Accell Group as a European market leader with a strong opportunity for further growth.”

Mia Ruotsala will also join Accell on 1 July, in the new position of Chief Digital Officer, reporting to the CEO. As part of Accell’s ongoing commitment to digital transformation, Mia brings relevant experience, having led digital transformation at major organizations including Intersport, Tommy Hilfiger and Sky ltd. “We look forward to working with Mia as she will be the spearhead in improving our digital presence,” continued De Ochoa. “This combination of new and current Accell executives will revitalize our company, fully focused on accelerating our growth and working together as one integrated team.”