Shares in Unilever jumped sharply Thursday after the maker of Dove soaps, Axe deodorants and Ben & Jerry's ice cream announced it had hired a popular executive from its biggest European rival, Nestle SA, to become its new chief executive.
Unilever NV/PLC said Paul Polman, a 52-year-old Dutchman, will replace Patrick Cescau, 59, at the end of the year.
Analysts said Polman had a strong resume for the job, having previously served at both of Unilever's largest competitors, Nestle and Procter & Gamble Co.
Shares were trading 6.5 percent higher at 20.06 euros ($29.11) in Amsterdam on news of Polman's appointment.
Polman joined Nestle in 2006 as chief financial officer and was mentioned as a successor to Nestle CEO Peter Brabeck-Letmathe, but lost out to Paul Bulcke last year. He became head of the company's Americas division in January.
Prior to that he had a 26-year career at Procter & Gamble, including eventually serving as European chief.
"We regard the appointment of Paul Polman as positive given his impressive career in the fast-moving consumer goods area and the fact that he is not a Unilever veteran," wrote analysts from SNS securities in a note on the appointment.
In July, Cescau had hinted he was ready to quit, saying he "achieved a lot of what I wanted to achieve" at Unilever and it was natural for the company to seek a successor.
Cescau, who is French, became the company's first sole chief executive after a profit warning in 2004 led the company to unify a clumsy two-board corporate structure _ though it continues to operate from dual headquarters, in London and Rotterdam. Cescau was widely credited with selling off mediocre businesses and investing to promote sales growth at Unilever's biggest brands.
However, the company's shares continued to underperform those of Nestle and Procter & Gamble.
Unilever reported a 21 percent fall in net profit in the second quarter, to 909 million euros ($1.41 billion), as the company faced rising materials costs and slowing economies.
Unilever chairman Michael Treschow praised Polman as "a great talent with significant international experience and an excellent track record."
Nestle said in a brief statement its Europe chief Luis Cantarell will take over the Americas region from Polman.
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