Finnish sporting goods maker Amer Sports on Tuesday proposed three new members for its board, responding to calls for a board revamp made in March by its largest shareholder, Icelandic investor Novator. Amer proposed Martin Burkhalter of the Norwegian software firm Vizrt, Christian Fischer of the German consultancy Accelate and Bruno Salzer of Hugo Boss as new members for the board.


 


Amer also proposed tht Anssi Vanjoki, Ilkka Brotherus, Felix Bjorklund and Pirjo Valiaho be re-elected.


 


Amer said shareholders with about 55 percent total holdings were supporting the proposal for the new board. Novator, which has a 10.5 percent holding in Amer, has said it was not seeking to restructure Amer Sports but to make better use of its international Atomic, Salomon and Wilson brands.


 


Profiles of the new appointees follows:


 


* Martin Burkhalter, 56, (Swiss nationality) is Chief Commercial Officer at Vizrt (www.vizrt.com), a Norwegian software company specializing in video production technology that is listed on the Oslo and Frankfurt Stock Exchanges. Formerly  Burkhalter worked as Senior Vice President and Managing Director for Reebok EMEA (www.reebok.com) in Paris and as CEO of Intersport International Corporation (www.intersport.com), Bern. He has experience from branded consumer goods wholesale and retail organizations, turnarounds, and implementing new strategic solutions for profit enhancement and business growth.


 


* Christian Fischer, 43, (Austrian nationality) is the founder and major shareholder of Accelate, Business Launch and Expansion GmbH (www.accelate.com) and previously served as a management consultant with A.T.Kearney (www.atkearney.com) in Munich.  Fischer is also the founder and major shareholder of Austria's leading security retail chain, Security Land (www.securityland.at). Fischer is an experienced international management consultant with a background in the fields of sporting goods, branding, and in redesigning the marketing and sales organizations of leading international branded consumer goods companies. * He has implemented growth strategies and has restructuring experience.


 


*  Bruno Sälzer, 50, (German nationality) was Chairman and CEO of Hugo Boss AG (group.hugoboss.com) in Germany in 2002-2008 and has been a member of the Managing Board at Hugo Boss since 1995. Formerly  Sälzer worked for Schwarzkopf AG (www.schwarzkopf.com) and Beiersdorf AG (www.beiersdorf.com) in Germany. He is a strong, international manager with brand and retail knowledge as well as fashion and sports products knowledge.  Sälzer is a well know authority in metropolitan behavioral trends and their business impacts.


 


The Board's term of service will run through the 2009 Annual General Meeting.