HNA Tourism Group, the new owner of Carlson Hotels Inc., is bringing in a top executive and a board member from one of its other businesses.
Federico González Tejera, who led the Spanish hotelier NH Hotel Group, will become chief executive of Minnetonka-based Carlson Hotels, best known for its Radisson hotel brands, on Feb. 1.
Charles Mobus, a former chairman of NH, has become a director on the company's board.
González succeeds David Berg, the CEO since 2015 who was expected to keep the job after HNA, a Chinese conglomerate with hotel and travel businesses around the world, took control. The acquisition, terms of which were not disclosed, was announced in April and closed last month.
In a statement issued Wednesday, Mobus said, "Federico has an established track record and long-held experience in the hospitality industry, and we are confident in his ability to build upon this strong foundation."
At NH, González enacted a five-year plan to help transform the company's brand position and increase profitability, according to the statement.
But last June, NH shareholders voted out HNA's board appointees, including Mobus, and ousted González, citing a conflict of interest with HNA's purchase of Carlson.
HNA, the largest single shareholder in NH, sued the company in the fall and demanded that its board of representatives and González be reinstated.
