Nidec COO to step down, leave company – Nikkei
11:45 pm Wednesday, August 24th, 2022
TOKYO (Reuters) -Japanese electric motor company Nidec Corp Chief Operating Officer Jun Seki intends to step down from the position and leave the company, the Nikkei newspaper reported on Thursday.
The report comes as the company struggles to find a successor for its 77-year-old chairman and current chief executive officer, Shigenobu Nagamori.
The company hasn’t announced that Seki is stepping down from his post or leaving the firm, a Nidec spokesperson told Reuters, adding that no decision has been made.
In its report, the Nikkei said Hiroshi Kobe, vice chairman, would take over Seki’s post.
Bloomberg first reported on Seki’s intentions. The company is planning to roll out a new leadership in October, Bloomberg reported.
Nagamori, who founded Nidec in 1973, recruited Seki, a former Nissan Motor Co executive, in 2020 to help Nidec’s drive to become a major player in components for next-generation automobiles.
Seki became chief executive officer, the position Nagamori held, in 2021. However, Nagamori took over the CEO position less than a year later, saying he wanted to improve the business performance..
At an earnings call in July, Nagamori denied speculation that he intends to remain CEO for the long term, saying he wants new leadership to take over in two years after performance improves.
Nagamori has also recruited executives from other companies, including former president of Sharp Corp Mikio Katayama, but a successor to the chairman has yet to be named.
In January, Bloomberg reported Nagamori had regretted hiring Seki to succeed him as CEO. Both executives denied the report.
Nidec’s shares were down 3% at the end of the mid-morning trade on Thursday, while Japan’s benchmark Nikkei was up 0.6%.
(Reporting by Satoshi Sugiyama; Editing by Jacqueline Wong & Shri Navaratnam)
