LONDON, Jan. 3, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Avon Products, Inc.
(NYSE: AVP) ("Avon") announces
that Jan Zijderveld will step down
as Chief Executive Officer concurrent with the pending closing of
the sale of the company to Natura &Co Holding S.A. (B3: NTCO3),
as Avon embarks upon the next
chapter in its 130-year history, joining the Natura &Co family
of companies.
Mr. Zijderveld's departure is effective immediately
upon closing, which is scheduled to occur later today, January 3, 2020, and he will hand over
leadership to Natura &Co Executive Chairman Roberto Marques and the leadership team that
will be announced soon after the closing of Natura &Co's
acquisition of Avon, which was
announced on May 22, 2019.
In his nearly two years at Avon's helm, Mr. Zijderveld has
been instrumental in turning around the company through its Open Up
strategy, which aims at making Avon the digital social selling beauty company
by rebuilding the fundamentals and modernizing its model. This
started with strengthening the brand proposition and driving
price improvements. Reinvesting in Avon's beauty entrepreneurs and launching the
digitization of the business, all the while
enhancing productivity across the business, transforming its
culture and restoring the relevance of this iconic business and
brand.
A native of The Netherlands who
has lived in eight countries on three continents, Mr. Zijderveld
joined Avon in February 2018 after a 30-year career at Unilever
NV/PLC, during which he was most recently a member of the Unilever
Executive Committee and President of Unilever's
European business, the company's largest operating
business.
Avon, by joining a group that
includes Natura, The Body Shop and Aesop, will become part of the
world's fourth-biggest pure-play beauty company,
reaching more than 200 million consumers worldwide through multiple
channels. The group will have annual gross sales above US$10 billion, 6.3 million representatives and
consultants, 3,200 stores and a presence in more than 100
countries.
Jan Zijderveld said:
"The combination of Avon with Natura &Co is a transformational
event and the right moment for Avon to start its next growth phase. I
will leave Avon with a feeling of
pride for what we have accomplished together with the
company's talented and passionate people and
teams. With the Open Up strategy, we have made significant progress
in building a more stable foundation from which Avon can grow well into the future. We have
modernized the brand, sharpened the portfolio and brought on-trend,
innovative products to our consumers. Most importantly, we have put
our passionate representatives back at the heart of everything we
do, empowering them to grow their business and reach new consumers.
Natura &Co is the right home for Avon to accelerate its Open Up strategy and
continue to change women's lives, and I will be
cheering from the sidelines."
Chan Galbato, chairman of the
Board of Directors of Avon, added:
"On behalf of the Board, I would like to express our
thanks and sincere admiration to Jan for his tremendous
accomplishments at Avon's helm and know he will do
well in his future endeavors. The transaction we will soon
conclude with Natura &Co is testament to his success in turning
around the company through his Open Up strategy. He leaves a strong
legacy on which to build, and Avon
is well positioned to write a new chapter of its growth story with
Natura &Co."
(AV-IR)
About Avon Products, Inc.
For more than 130 years Avon
has stood for women: providing innovative, quality beauty products
which are primarily sold to women, through women. Millions of
independent sales Representatives across the world sell iconic Avon
brands such as Avon Color and ANEW through their social networks,
building their own beauty businesses on a full- or part-time
basis. Avon supports women's
empowerment, entrepreneurship and well-being and has donated over
$1 billion to women's causes through
Avon and the Avon
Foundation. Learn more about Avon and its products at
www.avonworldwide.com. #stand4her
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains "forward-looking statements" that
are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Because forward-looking
statements inherently involve risks and uncertainties, actual
future results may differ materially from those expressed or
implied by such forward-looking statements. These risks and
uncertainties include, but are not limited to, risks and
uncertainties related to the pending acquisition of Avon by Natura &Co, as well as the other
risks detailed in Avon's Annual
Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2018, and Avon's other filings with the Securities and
Exchange Commission. Avon
undertakes no obligation to update any statements in this press
release for changes that happen after the date of this release.
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SOURCE AVON Products, Inc.