New Avon LLC has hired J. Scott White as chief executive officer.
New Avon is the company that comprises Avon’s North American business and was created through the recent separation of the business from Avon Products Inc. and the sale of the majority ownership to Cerberus Capital Management. Last month Cerberus said it closed on its deal, which called for the private equity firm to invest $435 million for a 16.6 percent stake in Avon Products, and put in $170 million for an 80 percent ownership in New Avon.
White’s start date is April 25. He joins New Avon from Abbott Laboratories, where he was president of Abbott Nutrition International, a $4 billion international nutrition business. He was at Abbott for 10 years, and before that was at Procter & Gamble for 15 years, where he managed a variety of women’s and health and wellness brands.
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The company said he will work closely with the New Avon and Cerberus teams to transform the North American business through improvement in the representative and consumer experience, reinvigoration of the Avon brand and “rigorous focus on operational excellence.”
Chan W. Galbato, chairman of New Avon, said, “Scott is a world-class executive whose diverse experience leading successful business turnarounds, building strong brands, setting winning strategies and driving operational excellence provides the unique skill set required to lead New Avon on a path to long-term success.”
Galbato added that White is the “right leader to shepherd New Avon as it transforms into a growing, contemporary, best-in-class social selling company.”
White said, “Avon’s powerful brand legacy, direct-selling model and important missions — empowering women, supporting incredible causes, such as the fights against breast cancer and domestic violence — are core tenets of this company that I am committed to building and strengthening.”
He said that over the next few months, he will be meeting with many New Avon representatives to learn their needs and how to help them improve their earnings opportunity.
According to New Avon, the company generated over $1 billion in revenues during 2015, and has nearly 400,000 independent sales representatives in the U.S., Puerto Rico and Canada. Avon’s product portfolio includes brands such as Anew, Avon Color, Mark and Skin So Soft.
Since the separation into New Avon, the naming of White has no impact on Avon Products Inc., which is headed up by ceo Sheri McCoy.