Smartoptics Group AS

Board/Management Information • Dec 11, 2023

Press Release

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 goto-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/