Fondia strengthens its Board with Juha Sarsama and Tuomo Lähdesmäki while reviewing the requirements for listing on the First North Finland market

Fondia has strengthened its Board with two new members. Juha Sarsama has been appointed as the new Chairman of the Board. Sarsama (born. 1956) has acted as CEO of Panostaja, a Nasdaq Helsinki listed company, since 2007. He holds a Master of Laws degree, and a Master of Science in Management from Boston University Brussels. Tuomo Lähdesmäki has been appointed as Vice-Chairman of the Board. Lähdesmäki (born 1957) is an experienced board professional and has, for example, served as CEO at Leiras and Elcoteq. He holds a Master of Science in Technology, and a Master of Business Administration from INSEAD Business School. With these appointments, Fondia strengthens the Board’s customer perspective, as both of the new Board members have been Fondia’s customers for many years. Johan Hammarén, Josephine Mickwitz, and Marianne Saarikko Janson will continue as members of the Board.

”Fondia’s mission is to internationalise a unique service innovation. It is a national mission that I want to be a part of,” said Sarsama. “I have worked as an attorney myself and appreciate Fondia’s ability to drive the necessary reform from inside the industry.” Lähdesmäki has been impressed by the combination of Fondia’s business model and enterprise culture. “I have seen close up how difficult it is for medium-sized companies to find a suitable provider of on-going legal support. Fondia’s model is unique and an excellent example of successful service design,” Lähdesmäki noted.

Fondia is a full-service business law firm operating in Finland, Sweden, and Estonia. In 2015, the turnover of the Fondia Group was approximately 13 million euros and is estimated to be approximately 15 million euros in 2016. Fondia employs over 100 people. On 12 January 2017, Fondia announced that it would be reviewing the requirements for listing on the First North Finland market, maintained by Nasdaq Helsinki Ltd. If the potential listing were to be carried out, Fondia would become the first Nordic company offering business legal services with its shares subject to public trading.

Fondia