Fast stock is rising, as Keith and Fussell are being forced out of the company board by Orkla.

It has been a tough year for Norwegian search engine company Fast Search & Transfer, but now, at the very end of the year, their stock is rising at the Norwegian stock exchange.

The reason for this is twofold.

New deals

First the company has signed a deal with the American cabel TV company Comcast. Comcast will use the FAST personalization framework.

At the same time, the Norwegian newspaper Dagens Næringsliv reports that Microsoft will use Fast ImPulse.

The end of the Keith and Fussell era

Second it seems that the Englishmen Robert Keith and Thomas Fussell may be thrown out of the Fast board.

One of the owners, the Norwegian company Orkla, has demanded a new general assembly. However, they have not presented new board memeber candidates for the board election committee. Fussell has now withdrawn from the position as head of the election committee. He is head of the present board.

It definitely looks like Orkla is out to get Fussell. The reason for this is the bad economic performance of the company. Fast stock has fallen by more than 50 percent during the last two years.

Investment Director Thomas Øybø in Orkla tells Aftenposten that they have received a lot of positive response from stock owners regarding their move.

Orkla and its allies control some 35 percent of the stock, Keith, Fussel & Co some 10 to 20 percent, finance analyst Arild Nysæther in Fondsfinans tells Aftenposten. He believes Keith and Fussel will loose this fight.