Renewable materials giant Stora Enso Oyj has proposed a slate of directors for the board of its new forest asset company, which is planned to be demerged from the group and listed as an independent company. 

Johan Trolle-Löwen, a forestry-focused business executive and CEO of Sjösa Förvaltnings AB, is proposed as chair, the Finnish company, which is one of the largest private forest owners in the world, announced today.

Stora Enso plans to separate its Swedish forest assets into a new publicly listed company through a statutory partial cross-border demerger. The transaction, expected to be completed in the first half of 2027, would create Europe’s largest listed pure-play forest company, owning about 1.2 million hectares of forest land in Sweden valued at around EUR 5.7 billion.

The suggested leadership lineup includes several forestry and investment veterans. One of them is Jannica Fagerholm, managing director of the Signe and Ane Gyllenberg Foundation, with a long background in banking and investments, who is slated to become the vice chair.

Other nominees include Helen Fasth Gillstedt, an experienced board professional in energy and sustainability; Magnus Fernström, an investment director at FAM with forestry expertise; Timo Mäkinen, an investment manager at Solidium; and Catharina Stackelberg-Hammarén, a senior marketing executive and chair of Harvia.

Marcus Wallenberg, chair of the shareholders’ nomination board, said the nominees bring a diverse range of expertise in forestry, finance, investment management, energy, sustainability, and strategic marketing. The decision is subject to the approval of Stora Enso’s extraordinary general meeting.