The board of Svenska Spel has nominated Eva-Lotta Sjöstedt to serve as the new chair of Sweden’s state-owned gambling, toto, and lotteries group.
The nomination comes as Svenska Spel reorganises its boardroom following the upcoming resignation of Erik Strand, who is set to step down as chairman.
A prominent figure in Swedish business, Eva-Lotta Sjöstedt is a former executive of IKEA, where she played a key role in developing the home retailer group’s global commercial strategy, helping it become Sweden’s highest-valued public company (+€95bn/$102,6bn).
Following her decade-long tenure at IKEA, Sjöstedt has served as an independent advisor to multiple European companies, including Finland’s Elisa Telecom and German wholesale food distributor METRO AG.
The board has nominated Sjöstedt as an expert in business planning and online development, citing her previous directorship roles, which have demonstrated strong oversight in Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) matters.
In 2024, Svenska Spel undertook significant reforms after being ordered by the Swedish government to terminate its remaining Casino Cosmopol venues. The reorganisation resulted in a 9% decrease in operating profits to SEK 2,113m ($208,76m).
Led by CEO Anna Johnson, the company remains optimistic about the future. Johnson stated, “Leadership is confident that it will mitigate the changes from 2024 and return to growth in 2025, implementing the forthcoming changes from its organisational review.”
Supporting Sjöstedt, Anna Gagner-Geeber and Johan Wilsby have also been nominated as new board members of Svenska Spel.
Anna Gagner-Geeber currently serves as office counsel for the Swedish government’s Department of Finance.
Johan Wilsby is the chief financial officer at Swedish cash handling company Loomis. He previously served as a board member at Relax Gaming (2021–2023) and held the position of CFO at Kindred Group Plc between October 2020 and August 2023.
The board has also proposed that current board members Eivor Andersson, Stefan Berg, Gunilla Herlitz, Nyamko Sabuni and Anne Arneby be nominated for re-election.
The nominations will be formally considered at Svenska Spel’s annual general meeting on 24 April 2025.
Don’t forget to subscribe to our Telegram channel!
