India’s biggest consumer goods maker, Hindustan Unilever, has reportedly shortlisted possible contenders for the post of the company’s chief executive officer as Sanjiv Mehta’s term is about to end soon. According to a story published by The Economic Times, Rohit Jawa and Priya Nair are among the top contenders for the post. Currently, Jawa is Unilever's chief of transformation at Unilever and is considered a strong contender internally. Nair is the global chief of the company.
At HUL, CEO succession has traditionally been a two-horse race. To prepare internal candidates for the position, different challenging roles with profit and loss responsibility and global responsibilities are placed with them. During the last few years, Jawa and Nair completed advanced management programs at Harvard Business School.
An HUL spokesperson told the Economic Times that the company "would not like to respond to rumour or speculation at a time when Sanjiv is actively leading the business". Here is what we know of the two names likely being discussed.
Who is Rohit Jawa?
57-year-old Jawa is a marketing MBA from Delhi's Faculty of Management Studies As a management trainee, Jawa joined HUL in 1988. Since then, he has worked with Unilever in top positions in sales, marketing, transformation, and general management.
Before accepting the position at the parent company, Jawa served as chairman of Unilever China and executive vice president for North Asia, the third-largest region for the company after the USA and India. He has extensive expertise in the home care, personal care, and food industries and has worked in China, India, Vietnam, Thailand, Singapore, the Philippines, and Indonesia.
Who is Priya Nair?
Nair, if selected, will become the first female CEO of HUL. Unilever has placed a strong emphasis on gender equality and leadership, and in 2019 and 2020, it reported a gender balance at the management level.
Nair joined HUL as a management trainee in the consumer insights team after getting an MBA from Symbiosis Institute of Business Management, Pune, in the 1995 batch. She headed the home care and beauty and personal care portfolios at HUL for the past ten years before going to the parent firm. She oversaw the rollout of Kan Khajura Tesan, HUL's rural mobile marketing programme, which won three Gold Lion prizes at the 2014 Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity.
Brokerage firm CLSA believes that HUL is looking to participate in high-growth segments through these investments. Morgan Stanley said in a note that while these deals are not material in terms of the company's revenue and cash balance, it does give the company an entry into a nascent but fast-growing premium health and wellbeing category.
Nomura expects these acquisitions to be margin-accretive for HUL on a gross level, while on an operating profit margin level, it remains at a nascent stage.
Jefferies does not rule out further M&A activity from HUL's stable, adding that the company intends to bring global brands, seven of which were acquired by the parent Unilever PLC, in the coming years.
Citi also likes HUL's strategic intent to target bolt-on acquisitions to drive growth in new-age categories and digital-first channels. It maintained its buy rating on the stock with a price target of Rs 3,050.
