MAM
Leo Burnett Group appoints Saurabh Varma as regional chief strategy officer
MUMBAI: Leo Burnett chief strategy officer Singapore and Malaysia Saurabh Varma has been elevated to the post of regional chief strategy officer for the APAC region. He will report directly to Leo Burnett Asia-Pacific president Jarek Ziebinski.
In his role as regional chief strategic officer, Varma will oversee all heads of strategy and planning directors across all Leo Burnett Group offices in the region. He will be responsible for ensuring that strategists of all planning disciplines across Asia-Pacific are properly trained and well-equipped.
He will also head a regional effectiveness council which will comprise key effectiveness leaders overseeing sub-regions of Southeast Asia, North Asia, India and Subcontinent and Australia which Leo Burnett will be launching in the near future. Varma will continue as a member of the Leo Burnett Worldwide HumanKind Standards Board and represent Leo Burnett Asia-Pacific on the Leo Burnett Worldwide Global Planning Board.
Varma joined Leo Burnett in 2007 and has more than 14 years of aggregate experience in the industry having worked across multiple categories including retail, FMCG, banking and finance and consumer durables. During this time he has worked on brands such as Indian Oil, Lakme, Vicks, Nivea, Fosters, Philips, HP, Blackberry, Samsung, Friesland Campina Asia-Pacific (Dutch Lady/Foremost/Frisian Flag), MCYS and United Overseas Bank.
Brands
Unilever nears $60bn merger of its food arm with spice giant McCormick
A cash-and-stock deal, structured to be tax-efficient, could be announced as early as this week, but the ink is not yet dry
LONDON: The world’s condiment cupboard is about to get a whole lot more consolidated. Unilever, the Anglo-Dutch consumer goods giant, is closing in on a deal to carve out a large chunk of its food business and merge it with McCormick & Company, the American spice-maker, creating a combined entity worth roughly $60bn, according to a report by the Wall Street Journal.
The proposed transaction would be structured as a cash-and-stock deal, with Unilever shareholders expected to retain about two-thirds of the new entity. A cash component of approximately $16bn is set to be included. The vehicle of choice is a Reverse Morris Trust, a structure beloved by corporate lawyers for its ability to shield such transactions from US federal income taxes.
Not everything is on the table, however. Unilever has made clear that its India operations would be excluded from the arrangement, preserving one of its most prized and complex emerging-market businesses from the merger’s reach.
If finalised, the deal would rank among the largest consolidations the global food industry has seen in years, yoking together two of the biggest names in packaged foods and seasonings. The combined group could significantly bolster its clout in international markets, particularly in branded consumer products.
Unilever, though, is playing it carefully. The company reiterated that talks are continuing and that final terms have yet to be agreed, adding that it would provide further updates as negotiations progress.
Watch this space, but do not reach for the mustard just yet.
