Farnham, Quebec, Canada—Ulf Mattsson, president and CEO of Tarkett’s North American business operations, has announced his resignation effective immediately, though he will remain with the hard surface manufacturer for at least the next three months “to help complete certain strategic projects.” Coinciding with this move, Marc Assa, chairman of Tarkett, announced the company’s global operations will be divided into two business groups—residential and commercial. The new structure applies to all Tarkett’s worldwide business units, including North America, Western Europe, Russia and Asia.

For North America, Jan Lembregts, president of Tarkett Residential, and Jim Morando, president of Tarkett Wood, will report directly to John Rietveldt, head of the Global Residential Division, while Gilles de Beaumont, president of Tarkett Commercial, will report to Regis de Boissieu, head of the Global Commercial Division. Assa told FCNews this is the “final point in transitioning the company to become one cohesive unit. For the customer, this will be a positive move as it creates more synergies between our factories and distributors around the world.”

He said this is the culmination of the company’s initiative to create a single global brand under the Tarkett banner which was shown to the industry for the first time at the two major trade shows in January, Domotex in Germany and Surfaces in Las Vegas (FCNews, Jan. 26). “Our intention from the beginning was to include the North American business into the whole organization but that couldn’t be done until we were able to purchase back Domco’s stock and privatize it. (Editor’s note: Tarkett’s Domco division was legally a stand-alone company listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange until this past November.) “When that occurred, it was known internally of our intention to change how Tarkett’s North American business will be run in that it would be integrated into the worldwide organization. “This change,” Assa continued, “effectively eliminated the president and CEO position for North America, in terms of running and operating the day-to-day business as well as the overall direction of the company.”

Even still, he added, Michel Cognet, COO of Tarkett’s global operations, will technically serve as president of the North American business unit “His job will be to facilitate the central services of the company, such as accounting, shipping, etc., but he will, in no way, interfere with the how the residential and commercial divisions are run.” Assa said an offer was made to Mattsson about another position, “but he declined. He did agree to stay on for the next three to four months to finish some internal projects. “Ulf has made great contributions to Tarkett during his 16 years within our company,” he added, “and I want to thank him and wish him plenty of success in his future career.” Mattsson told FCNews the timing was right for him to step down and “pursue the next step in my career.”

As to what exactly that step is and whether or not it will be with in the flooring industry has yet to be decided. “Right now, I have no plans other than to finish the work I have here.” He noted Tarkett is ending a particular phase in the company’s history and entering a new era which made this the appropriate time to leave. “When I took over in 2000 as president and CEO, it was a totally different management team and company. We’ve since been fortunate to build a very good and strong team full of talented individuals who have worked hard to get Tarkett focused in one direction. “And that was,” Mattsson explained, “to pull all the mergers and acquisitions we made into a single-minded company with one message going forward. We laid down the strategy and this is last step in that process so the timing is right in that Tarkett is ending one phase and beginning a new one.

“We have built up a strong organizational base with exceptional leadership,” he added, “and I am convinced they are ready to successfully develop the business go ing forward.” Also contributing to the company being able to restructure its global identity was former Pergo president, Lars von Kantzow, whose consulting company, TriCrown, played an integral role in researching where Tarkett stood within the industry and the marketplace and what steps should be taken as a result of those findings. In fact, Mattsson feels von Kantzow’s role becomes “even more important under the new company as he will be the main branding coordinator between North America and Europe.” Assa agreed, noting von Kantzow “will remain as a consultant at least through the rest of this year to help coordinate our new branding strategy which we feel is very important for Tarkett to move forward.” —Matthew Spieler