BALLERUP, DENMARK — In a significant strategic move, the GN Group has announced plans to begin consolidation and integration across its two prominent business divisions, GN Hearing and GN Audio. The integration aims to harness collaborative innovation and synergistic scalability for enhanced growth and profitability.
GN’s Board of Directors has now decided to execute the next step of integration and transition into a one-company setup, simplifying the Group’s governance structure to drive further market success and shareholder value creation as a fully integrated innovation powerhouse.
This includes a transition into one company with one Board, one Group CEO, and one Group CFO.
New GN Group CEO: Peter Karlstromer
Peter Karlstromer
The responsibility of leading the GN Group into this new phase falls upon Peter Karlstromer, who has been appointed as the Group CEO. In the forthcoming months, Peter will assemble the new executive leadership team and craft the fresh organizational structure for GN.
As part of this transformation, Gitte Aabo will step down from her executive roles as CEO of GN Store Nord and GN Hearing. She has expressed her desire to dedicate herself to a full-time board career. Going forward, the Executive Management of GN will consist of Peter Karlstromer and Group CFO Søren Jelert.
These transformative changes will come into effect on October 1, 2023, with Gitte Aabo ensuring a seamless transition by remaining committed to her role throughout the remainder of the year.
“The time has come to further align into one company. The changes we are making will simplify our governance and strengthen the way we operate. We have significant opportunities ahead of us, and I am pleased that Peter Karlstromer has accepted the role as Group CEO to lead the business as we move into the future.”
–Jukka Pertola, Chair of the Board
Peter Karlstromer shared his thoughts, saying, “I am proud to take on the role as Group CEO. We are in strong positions across our company, and I am excited to lead a customer-focused organization that brings innovation to our customers and partners. I believe that moving to ‘One GN’ will make us a better workplace with benefits to all the valued employees we have today and will attract in the future.”
Gitte Aabo
Gitte Aabo, reflecting on her journey, stated, “Four years ago, we set out to modernize hearing care and enable everybody to find a hearing solution that fits their lifestyle. I could not be prouder of how our teams have led this innovation and brought leading products successfully to the market. The time is right for me to take a next step that will allow me to fully dedicate myself to support companies in non-executive roles. I firmly believe that the changes we do now in GN to move to ‘one company’ are right for our business, our people, and our shareholders, and I’m looking forward to assisting with making this transition seamless and successful.”
About GN
GN brings people closer through our leading intelligent hearing, audio, video, and gaming solutions. Inspired by people and driven by innovation, we deliver technology that enhance the senses of hearing and sight. We help people with hearing loss overcome real-life challenges, improve communication and collaboration for businesses, and provide great experiences for audio and gaming enthusiasts.
GN was founded more than 150 years ago with a vision to connect the world. Today, inspired by our strong heritage, GN touches more lives than ever with our unique expertise and the broadest portfolio of products and services in our history – bringing people closer to what is important to them.
We market our solutions with the brands Jabra, ReSound, SteelSeries, Beltone, Interton, BlueParrott, Danavox, and FalCom in 100 countries. Founded in 1869, GN Group employs more than 7,500 people and is listed on Nasdaq Copenhagen (GN.CO).
Source: GN Group
