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Dive Brief:
- Unilever CFO Fernando Fernandez will assume additional responsibilities for supply chain and procurement, digital and technology and business services as part of wide-sweeping executive leadership shifts, the global food and household retailer announced Monday.
- As part of the shift, Fernandez — a 37-year veteran of the company, the parent of such brands as Hellmann’s, Ben & Jerry’s, and Dove soap — will receive a 7.5% bump to his fixed pay, Unilever said. The CFO’s expanded responsibilities, as well as its other leadership changes, will be effective Jan. 1, according to the Monday release.
- The announcement comes as the London-based company looks to execute on its “Growth Action Plan 2030,” a strategy which includes the separation of its ice cream business. Unilever first announced plans to spin off its ice cream brands in March, noting the segment “has a very different operating model, and as a result the board has decided that the separation of Ice Cream best serves the future growth of both Ice Cream and Unilever.”
Dive Insight:
The changes represent the second wide-scale executive swaps made by Unilever in approximately a year; Fernandez first took on the CFO role in January, with the company also shuffling executive roles in its beauty & wellbeing and homecare segments, according to a press release.
Before taking on the role of finance chief, Fernandez held a variety of positions at the company, including serving as president, beauty and wellbeing and EVP of Unilever Latin America, according to his LinkedIn profile. He succeeded Graeme Pitkethly as CFO, who stepped down as finance chief but will remain as a director with the company until this May, the company said. As part of his appointment, Fernandez was eligible to receive annual fixed pay of €1.175 million, as well as an annual bonus and relocation support, according to the company release.
As well as expanding its CFOs’ list of responsibilities, Unilever also appointed Reginaldo Ecclissato, presently its chief business operations and supply chain officer, to the role of president for One Unilever Markets. Chief Procurement Officer Willem Uijen, meanwhile, will take on the position of chief supply chain officer, reporting to Fernandez as CFO.
Fernandez will assume responsibility for tech and procurement, as well as the other categories, at a time when Unilever is embarking on a broad strategic shift under CEO Hein Schumacher, who took the top executive seat last July.
Schumacher has championed a growth plan which focuses deeper on the — including Hellmann’s and Dove soap — which collectively represent more than 85% of company “turnover,” a type of revenue, according to Unilever materials. Unilever will also lay off approximately 7,500 employees under the plan, as well as looking to streamline its business with either the spin-off or sale of its ice cream segment, which comprises brands such as Magnum and Ben & Jerry’s.
The company is “on track” for the separation of its ice cream segment, it said in October when reporting results for its third quarter, where ice cream reported sales of €2.4 billion for the division. Total turnover or revenue for the quarter hit €15.2 billion, the company said.
While the company remains focused on divesting its ice cream business, questions have continued to swirl surrounding the shape that separation will take. In July, Unilever reportedly opened initial talks for a sale of the business — valued at approximately $19.5 billion — with potential buyers including private equity firms such as Advent International and Blackstone, Bloomberg reported.
However, the company walked back plans of a potential sale in November in favor of a potential public listing for the division, The Financial Times reported. Some private equity firms are holding out hope the company may reconsider a potential sale, Bloomberg reported Monday, noting bankers had raised approximately €9 billion in debt financing in case a sale is revisited.
Unilever did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
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