Former First Mode CEO Julian Soles is joining Denmark’s FLSmidth in May as president of its mining products business. The company also has a new mining service business president in Toni Laaksonen, CEO of Finnish glass-making machinery company, Glaston.
Laaksonen previously had business, sales and service leadership roles at Metso, Outotec, ABB and Posti Group.
US engine manufacturer Cummins has just bought First Mode out of bankruptcy after the latter lost the financial support of its major shareholder, Anglo American Corp, last year and failed with circa-US$100 million of liabilities. Cummins, a $52 billion public company, said it acquired First Mode’s retrofit hybrid powertrain IP, including its mining hydrogen and battery lines.
Soles previously had senior leadership positions at offshore drilling contractor Transocean and Anglo American.
“We are at a pivotal point in our transformation journey having spent the past few years defining our core business and strengthening our operations to ensure we can drive more consistent value creation,” FLSmidth CEO Mikko Keto said.
“The appointment of Toni and Julian to our executive management team advances our ambition to shift towards business growth as we look to become an even stronger partner to our customers. Each of them brings an innovative, customer-first approach to leadership and deep expertise in growing and transforming established global companies.”
