The Astrid Lindgren Company names new CEO

For the first time, Astrid Lindgren’s children and grandchildren – the owners of The Astrid Lindgren Company – are recruiting a new CEO from outside the family. This change is part of an overall strategy to transfer from an owner-managed organisation to owner-governed with the owners primarily focusing on long-term strategy and policy issues.

- We, the owners, have for some time discussed how our business should be organised and managed to best reach our long-term goals. We have grown from a small family business into a professional and modern licensing company. Whilst still preserving the strong culture founded on Astrid Lindgren’s guiding principles we look forward to this next step, says Olle Nyman, who will be stepping in as the elected Chairman of the family’s Owner’s Council and Group Legal Director, after leaving his role as CEO.

The new CEO of The Astrid Lindgren Company is Cilla Nergårdh, who up until now has worked as the Head of Communications.

- We are very happy to have recruited Cilla Nergårdh. She knows our business well and has won both the owners’ and the staff’s trust. Her intuition and visionary leadership will ensure the company a continued success. My primary role will be to support the CEO in all the exciting opportunities that lie ahead of us, says Nils Nyman, Chairman of the Board of The Astrid Lindgren Company.

Both Olle Nyman and Nils Nyman will thus remain as important assets to the company, as will two other owners – Annika Lindgren and Malin Billing – who will continue working with content and corporate values.

- I am incredibly proud to have been entrusted with the task of leading Astrid Lindgren’s stories into the future, says Cilla Nergårdh. To me as the new CEO, there is great value in the owners remaining with the company, albeit in new roles. They possess great knowledge and experience, as well as an inner compass in terms of how to stay loyal to the original stories and to Astrid Lindgren herself.

For further information contact:

Nils Nyman, styrelseordförande Astrid Lindgren Aktiebolag
nils.nyman@astridlindgren.se, +46 (0)706-07 39 39

Cilla Nergårdh, incoming CEO, The Astrid Lindgren Company
cilla.nergardh@astridlindgren.se, +46 (0)70-938 46 52