RECKITT Benckiser, the household products and drugs group, has chosen India-born Rakesh Kapoor to replace chief executive Bart Becht, whose sudden retirement yesterday shocked markets.
Reckitt’s share price slumped around seven per cent in London on the unexpected announcements by the company whose major brands include household cleaner Cillit Bang, Durex condoms and Nureflex/Nurofen pain relief tablets.
Kapoor, a senior executive at Anglo-Dutch Reckit.t takes over on September 1, while Becht will remain as part-time adviser to his successor and the board until September 2012 “to ensure a smooth transition,” the group said.
“After 16 years in the role, I believe now is the right time to retire,” said Dutch national Becht, who at 54 is two years older than Kapoor.
Becht has led the group since its formation from the 1999 merger of Britain’s Reckitt & Colman and Dutch group Benckiser, which he previously headed.
He hit the headlines in 2009 when he earned more than £90m ($147.26m) after exercising stock options.
“We are very surprised” by his departure, said Sanford C Bernstein investment research group.
“It was inevitable that Becht would retire one day but he is only 54 years old and we did not anticipate it so soon.”
Kapoor expressed delight at his promotion after 25 years with the group, adding that he was looking forward “to leading the business to its next stage of growth and performance, supported by an excellent senior management team.”
Group chairman Adrian Bellamy said Kapoor “has the necessary drive, strategic thinking and operational experience coupled with a more than intimate understanding of and capability to improve RB’s financial performance.”
Kapoor, who is married with two children and is said to be a keen cricket and football fan, steps up from his role as executive vice president, global category development.
“There is a level of surprise and degree of nervousness about Becht’s departure given the strong impact he has had on the business in his tenure,” said analyst Damian McNeela at stockbrokers Panmure Gordon.
He added however that the share price fall, which wiped more than £1.5bn ($2.45bn) off the company’s value, was “overdone.”
