Polman succeeds Cescau at Unilever

 The Board of Directors of Unilever will be appointing the Dutchman Paul Polman of Nestlé as the successor to the departing director Patrick Cescau.

Polman (52) is currently employed by Nestlé SA as Executive Vice President and Zone Director for North and South America.

Polman was hired by Nestlé in 2006 as Chief Financial Officer. Prior to that, he was employed for 26 years at Procter & Gamble, most recently in the position of Group President, Europe between 2001 and 2005.

In September of 2007, he was tipped as being the favourite for the new CEO at Nestlé, but at the last minute this position went to the Belgian Paul Bulcke.

This autumn, Polman will be recommended for appointment as Group Chief Executive at Unilever during the exceptional general meetings of shareholders.