HUL gets new CEO in Sanjiv Mehta, Paranjpe moves up the global ladder

In a major rejig of its top management, FMCG major Hindustan Unilever todayelevated its managing director Nitin Paranjpe as the global head of parent company Unilever’s home care business.

Sanjiv Mehta who is currently heading the company’sMiddle-East and North Africa operation will replace Paranjpe as HUL MD from October 1.

Mehta will also be responsible for South Asia cluster which includes India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal.

Paranjpe will join the leadership executive team and will report directly to global CEO Paul Polman.

[caption id=“attachment_988385” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Nitin Paranjpe[/caption]

“Sanjiv Mehta, currently Chairman, North Africa & Middle East (NAME), Unilever, has been appointed as the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Company in place of Mr. Nitin Paranjpe with effect from October 01, 2013. The appointment has been approved by the Board of Directors,” HUL said in a statement today.

The appointment of Mehta will be subject to approval of shareholders.

Announcing the management changes, Harish Manwani, Chairman, HUL, said “The changes reflect our strong commitment towards leadership development and our tradition of leveraging experiences and synergies of talent across markets.”

Welcoming Mehta as the new CEO, Manwani added, “Sanjiv brings with him rich experience of successfully leading businesses across developing and emerging markets. I am confident that he will further build on the growth momentum and drive the company’s agenda of competitive, consistent, profitable and responsible growth.”

Earlier this month, Paranjpe’s total compensation package, including bonus, rose to Rs 10.12 crore from Rs 9.74 crore in the previous year. According to this report , his pay package included an annual performance bonus of Rs 3.16 crore, perquisites of Rs 4.06 crore, a provident fund contribution of Rs 22.91 lakh and base salary of Rs 2.66 crore.

Meanwhile, shares inHindustan Unilever fell 4 percent today ahead of its April-June earnings later in the day.

Parent Unilever has become more cautious about prospects for emerging markets, a big growth driver for the consumer goods company, which reported underlying second-quarter sales growth shy of market expectations.

Hindustan Unilever also said on Thursday that Life Insurance Corp of India sold 67.3 million shares at Rs 600 per share.