Danish sushi restaurant chain Sticks'n'Sushi promoted group COO Andreas Karlsson to CEO and hired former TDC Group Vice President Jens Aalosse as chairman of the board, Fodevarewatch reported.

Aalosse will replace Danish private equity firm Maj Invest Managing Partner Erik Holm, and Karlsson will take the place of Rod McKie.

Holm is retiring and McKie said it is not convenient to live in London and work in Copenhagen, Holm said in an investor release.

"We are revisiting what our goals and plans for the business should be throughout the next three years," Holm said. "We need to have our earnings up after spending a lot of costs on growing the company."

Holm said a new investment might be initiated in connection with the management shifts.

In 2013, Maj Invest took a 49 percent bite of Sticks'n'Sushi, while the founders remained the majority shareholders with a 51 percent stake in the company. At the time, Maj Invest's aim was to expand the chain's presence internationally.

However, earlier this year, the initial founders of the company sold a big chunk of their stake to Maj Invest, which now has a 79 percent stake in the business.

At the moment, the restaurant has 12 branches in Copenhagen, seven in London and one in Berlin.

Two brothers, Jens and Kim Rahbek, launched the brand about 25 years ago along with Thor Andersen. The brothers joined their Japanese and Danish cultural backgrounds to kick off their menu of Japanese sushi and sashimi as well as chicken yakitori sticks.

In the financial year of 2017-2018, the company reported sales of DKK 495 million ($73 million/€66 million), while earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) were about DKK 25.6 million ($3.8 million/€3.4 million).