Vestre was general manager of the furniture company Vestre AS before he became part of the Støre government in 2021. Then he left both the board and the day-to-day management to no longer have an active role. Retained decisive influence While Vestre found new board members and appointed a general manager in the company, he did not give any authority to attend and vote in the general meeting in his place, the ministry confirms to news. This means that Vestre still votes at the company’s general meeting. In addition to being minister of industry, Vestre was elected in May 2023 as the new deputy leader of Ap together with Tonje Brenna. Vestre owns 70 percent of the shares in the family company. The general meeting is the company’s highest authority, and in Vestre AS the minister of business has therefore voted with decisive influence in recent years. His share can determine, among other things, whether the accounts are approved, whether dividends are to be paid or who is to sit on the board that appoints the CEO. Professor Tore Bråthen in company law at BI considers such decisions to be paramount. – The normal thing is for the board to manage the company, while the general meeting decides on completely overarching issues. This is typically the case in large companies such as Equinor. But the general meeting is the company’s highest authority and can in principle make the decision in almost all kinds of matters, he says in general, and continues: – In small companies there may be dominant shareholders who play a more active role both at the general meeting and more informally outside the general meeting, he elaborates. Jan Christian Vestre showed off a model of the furniture factory in Magnor when he was visited by Ap leader Jonas Gahr Støre in 2020. Photo: Vidar Ruud / NTB Støre’s office: – Absolutely fine Last week the Prime Minister’s office tightened the rules for how the politicians in the government can own and trade shares: They must either choose to freeze the shares, sell them or remove the management. But the new rules said little about how active politicians can be as owners. They can continue to act as owners in companies that are not listed on the stock exchange, according to chief of staff Kristine Kallset (Ap). – We have advised that participation in general meetings of unlisted companies is perfectly fine and that it is important that political management is aware that it can trigger new challenges to integrity, for example by voting on questions about the acquisition of other companies or entering into contracts , writes Kallset in an email to news. Bråthen believes that acquisitions can make a share freeze difficult in practice. – The moment an offer comes in to buy a share of the shares in the family company from a buyer who everyone believes will be a good owner, and then the politician has frozen the shares… What do you do then? asks Bråthen. Wanted to continue voting Since the rules were tightened, news has asked Vestre if he wants to be an owner in a different way in the future. Vestre has not answered any of news’s questions, including why he does not authorize others to vote on his behalf or whether he has spoken to the board outside the general meeting. Instead, dispatch manager Knut Løkstad in the Ministry’s Administration Department writes in an e-mail to news that Vestre has familiarized itself with the new rules. Løkstad says that Vestre, together with the Prime Minister’s office, has concluded that he will follow these if he continues to participate in the general assembly. – When the minister of business took office, he stepped down from all offices and positions in Vestre AS, and froze his shares in Vestre AS. At the same time, he informed the Ministry of Trade and Fisheries that he would still attend and vote at the general meeting, as the largest shareholder in the company, writes Løkstad.
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Vestre gets the green light from Støre’s office to retain power in its own family company – news Norway – Overview of news from various parts of the country
