HELSINKI, Finland-The Finnish government has objected to a decision by Telia shareholders to elect Telia’s chief executive to the board of the merged company, a stumbling block reminiscent of the cultural issues that eventually sidelined the planned Telia/Telenor merger in 1999.
The Finnish government said the appointment of Anders Igel to the board would go against the merger agreement between the Swedish and Finnish governments, the biggest shareholders in Telia and Sonera respectively.
The governments had agreed that the board of directors would not include executive management.
The merger must still gain approval from Sonera shareholders. The combined company will be called TeliaSonera. The tie-up would be the first between two former monopoly telecom companies in Europe.
A similar agreement between Telia and Norway’s Telenor proposed in 1999 eventually broke down due to disagreements among management.
