Former Ocean Yield boss Lars Solbakken has decided 40 years of front-line roles in shipping and finance was more than enough.
The Norwegian sale-and-leaseback shipping company said on Friday that its experienced chief executive had opted to leave with immediate effect.
Solbakken had been with the company for 12 years.
He told TradeWinds: “After 40 years in shipping and ship finance, I am happy to step down as CEO of Ocean Yield.
“I have no plans for any new CEO role.”
But Solbakken added: “I am, however, sure that I will have new less operative roles within shipping going forward that I can combine with increased focus on my own investments.”
Ocean Yield — bought in December by US private equity giant Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR) — said the ex-CEO has been replaced by Andreas Rode, head of business development and mergers and acquisition.
In November, TradeWinds reported that the company’s top executives looked likely to be awarded new incentives to stay on after the KKR takeover.
Solbakken confirmed to analysts on a conference call that bosses were selling all their shares to KKR.
“The intention is that we will enter into new investment schemes with KKR,” he added at the time.
The former CEO previously held the top job at Norwegian Car Carriers for more than two years, but was best known as boss of John Fredriksen’s shipowning company SFL Corp between 2006 and 2009.
Before that, he was a senior executive at Fortis Bank and Christiania Bank for 20 years.
In January, the company said it was slimming its board down to just two KKR executives, Vincent Policard and Bernardo Nogueira.
KKR completed its NOK 7.2bn ($829.5m) takeover on 1 December, reaching 94% of the share capital and then launching a compulsory offer for the rest.
