Brands
Kraft Heinz to sell Complan brand in India
MUMBAI: US food and beverage giant Kraft Heinz is looking to sell its children’s energy drink brand Complan in India. The sale could help Heinz in fetching about $1 billion.
Kraft Heinz is said to be working with an adviser to gauge interest in the brand from potential buyers. These buyers could be local Indian companies and private equity firms. According to media reports, the company may also decide to keep the brand.
In India, Heinz offers Complan, Glucon-D, Heinz tomato ketchup and cheese. Internationally, the brand is also into selling baked beans, vinegar, mayonnaise and sauces.
Rumour has it, that three companies in India are expected to bid for GlaxoSmithKline’s Horlicks, which is a health nutrition company that competes directly with Complan. Heinz is one of the bidders for Horlicks.
Horlicks decided to move out of children’s energy drink business after GSK started a review of several businesses to support its $13 billion bill for a 36.5 per cent stake of Novartis in their customer healthcare joint venture.
Brands
Lululemon picks former Nike executive to be its next chief
Heidi O’Neill, who helped grow Nike into a $45 billion giant, will take the top job in September
CANADA: Lululemon has found its next chief executive, and she comes with serious credentials. The athleisure giant named Heidi O’Neill as its new CEO on Wednesday, ending a search that has left the company running on interim leadership since earlier this year. O’Neill will take charge on September 8, 2026, based out of Vancouver, and will join the board on the same day.
O’Neill brings more than three decades of experience across performance apparel, footwear and sport. The bulk of that time was spent at Nike, where she was a central figure in one of corporate sport’s great growth stories, helping take the company from a $9 billion business to a $45 billion global powerhouse. She oversaw product pipelines, brand strategy and consumer connections, and played a significant role in shaping how Nike spoke to athletes around the world. Earlier in her career, she worked in marketing for the Dockers brand at Levi Strauss. She also brings boardroom experience from Spotify Technology, Hyatt Hotels and Lithia and Driveway.
The board was unequivocal in its enthusiasm. “We selected Heidi because of the breadth of her experience, her demonstrated success delivering breakthrough ideas and initiatives at scale, and her ability to be a knowledgeable change and growth agent,” said Marti Morfitt, executive chair of Lululemon’s board.
O’Neill, for her part, was bullish. “Lululemon is an iconic brand with something rare: genuine guest love, a product ethos rooted in innovation, and a global platform still in the early stages of its potential,” she said. “My job will be to accelerate product breakthroughs, deepen the brand’s cultural relevance, and unlock growth in markets around the world.”
Until she arrives, Meghan Frank and André Maestrini will continue as interim co-CEOs, before returning to their previous senior leadership roles once O’Neill steps in.
Lululemon is betting that a Nike veteran who helped build one of the world’s most powerful sports brands can do something similar for an athleisure label that has genuine love from its customers but is still chasing its full global potential. O’Neill has done it before at scale. The question now is whether she can do it again.
