Changes in Amer Sports’ board of directors are being requested for the second year in a row by Novator, which has become the company’s largest shareholder, with a stake of 20.11 percent. Immediately after the annual meeting last March 5, Novator requested an extraordinary meeting to elect a new board and to consider an amendment to the statutes. Last year the fund obtained the appointment of three new independent board members including Martin Burkhalter, who is well known to the sporting goods industry. At the latest annual meeting, the only new director appointed was Hannu Ryöppönen, former chief executive of a large Finnish paper company, replacing a director who is retiring. The amendment proposed by Novator would see each of the five largest shareholders of Amer appointing a member of the nomination committee for the board. Amer’s board has been authorized to decide to issue up to 7 million new shares. Its 340,900 treasury shares have been transferred to a subsidiary, Amer Sports International, for use by key personnel for a share-based incentive plan.
