Reckitt CEO to leave after eight years capped by setbacks

[LONDON] Reckitt Benckiser Group chief executive officer Rakesh Kapoor plans to step down by the end of the year after the UK consumer-goods giant struggled to recover from a series of setbacks.

The maker of Lysol air fresheners and Nurofen painkillers said its board has begun a formal process to name a successor and is considering internal and external candidates.

The move follows a disastrous 2017 in which Reckitt Benckiser was hit by a cyberattack, botched product introductions and other problems. Last year the woes continued with a manufacturing glitch in the company's infant nutrition business.

Mr Kapoor, who is 60, is the latest of several titans of the consumer-goods business to retire, after Unilever's Paul Polman yielded his post as CEO following a decade at the helm. Mr Kapoor has been CEO at Reckitt Benckiser for about eight years.

Mr Kapoor oversaw the acquisition of infant formula maker Mead Johnson and split Reckitt into two parts, one focused on health, the other on home-care and other brands, in a move that prompted speculation about a possible eventual breakup.

BLOOMBERG