KARLSHAMN, SWEDEN — Arne Frank, president and chief executive officer of AAK since 2010, passed away July 24. He was 59 years old.
“It was with great grief we received this sad notification yesterday,” Mikael Ekdahl, chairman of AAK AB, said on July 25. “Arne’s hope for a positive outcome of his ongoing cancer treatment has unfortunately not been realized.”
Mr. Frank had been on a leave of absence since May.
“Arne will be deeply missed within AAK, both on a personal and professional level,” Mr. Ekdahl said. “He has created a very strong organization with many highly skilled and qualified managers. Hence, the starting position is positive when the board of directors now is forced to start the search for a new c.e.o. and president. Fredrik Nilsson will continue as acting c.e.o. and president during this process.”
Prior to joining AAK, Mr. Frank was chairman of the board of Carl Zeiss Vision and was also the c.e.o. of the company. Earlier in his career, he was the c.e.o. of TAC for many years and of the division of the Schneider Group that TAC became a part of after the French acquisition.
