Esa Tihilä appointed new CEO of Basware Corporation

The Board of Directors of Basware Corporation has appointed Esa Tihilä as new CEO of Basware Corporation as of October 17, 2011. Mr. Tihilä currently serves as Senior Vice President, Automation Services, at Basware Corporation.

Esa Tihilä (born 1964) has been working at Basware since 2004 and has been a member of the Basware Executive Team since 2005. Before heading the Automation Services unit, Mr. Tihilä was responsible for the European operations at Basware. Prior to joining Basware, he was CEO of Meridean Oy and held several management positions at ICL. Mr. Tihilä holds College (Econ) and eMBA degrees.

Present CEO Ilkka Sihvo has been employed by Basware since 1989 and worked as CEO since 2005. Ilkka Sihvo and the Board of Directors of Basware have agreed that Ilkka Sihvo will be available during the transition period until the end of 2011.

Ilkka Sihvo says: “This is the right time to realize the change that I have been considering already for a while and hand over the development of Basware to Esa Tihilä who knows Basware’s business inside out. I am confident that Esa will be able to continue the internationalization and growth further on. I am confident in handing over the duties of CEO to Esa.”

The Chairman of the Board of Basware Corporation Hannu Vaajoensuu: “ I would like to thank Ilkka for his remarkable input in listing a Finnish company on the stock exchange and developing it into an internationally recognized service company. I believe that the success of Basware is based on Ilkka’s strong understanding of customers’ needs in the global market. The Board of Directors of Basware and personnel would like to thank Ilkka, wishing him the best luck. Under Esa Tihilä, Basware will continue to concentrate on strong international growth on the basis of its present strategy.”