Smartoptics Group AS

Board/Management Information • Dec 11, 2023

Smartoptics Group AS (SMOP) - Smartoptics appoints Stefan Karlsson as CFO

Smartoptics Group AS (SMOP) - Smartoptics appoints Stefan Karlsson as CFO

Oslo, 11 December 2023 - Smartoptics Group AS (OSE:SMOP) today announces the

appointment of Stefan Karlsson as Chief Financial Officer (CFO), effective 1

February 2024.

"I am delighted to welcome Stefan Karlsson to the Smartoptics team. With his

deep domain expertise, industry experience, and proven track record, he will

play a vital part in the next phase of Smartoptics' growth journey," said CEO of

Smartoptics Magnus Grenfeldt.

Stefan Karlsson has served as Director of Finance and Accounting in Trustly

since November 2020. Previously, he was Director of Finance of Infinera. His

background further includes positions within financial controlling and

accounting in Transmode, PacketFront, Powerwave Technologies, Allgon and

IconMedialab, as well as a tenure as auditor at PWC.

Stefan Karlsson 53 holds a Bachelor degree in Business and Economics from

Stockholm University and has studied Business Administration at the University

of Macau.

"I have closely followed Smartoptics' development, and with its attractive

technology and effective go-to-market model, the company has been a growth

winner in the optical network space for years. I am looking forward to getting

started, and participating in further building a company fit for leveraging the

enormous opportunities that lie ahead of us, driven by the continuous growth in

global data traffic," said Stefan Karlsson.

Stefan Karlsson replaces Michael Haag, who, as announced on 20 November 2023,

has decided to step down. Effective today, Mikael Haag hands over the CFO

position to Markus Torgersen, who will hold the role on an interim basis.

Torgersen has held the position as head of accounting in Smartoptics since March

2018. He holds a master's degree in international trade, finance and management

from Yonsei University and a bachelor's degree in business administration and

management from BI Norwegian Business School.

For further information, please contact:

Magnus Grenfeldt

CEO Smartoptics

+46 73-366 88 77

E-mail: magnus.grenfeldt@smartoptics.com

About Smartoptics:

Smartoptics provides innovative optical networking solutions and devices for the

new era of open networking. Our customer base includes thousands of enterprises,

governments, cloud providers, Internet exchanges as well as cable and telecom

operators. We have an open networking approach in everything we do which allows

our customers to break unwanted vendor lock-in, remain flexible and minimize

costs. Our solutions are used in metro and regional network applications that

increasingly rely on data center services and specifications. Smartoptics is a

Scandinavian company founded in 2006. We partner with leading technology and

network solution providers such as Brocade, Cisco and Dell and have a global

reach through more than 100 business partners.

For additional information about Smartoptics, please visit

https://smartoptics.com/