(Bloomberg) -- Tesco Plc named Booker Group Plc Chief Executive Officer Charles Wilson to lead its British and Irish operations, elevating a potential successor for the leading role at the U.K.'s biggest retailer.
The appointment of Wilson, 51, creates a strong No. 2 to CEO Dave Lewis. Before engineering a 3.7 billion-pound ($5.2 billion) sale to Tesco, Wilson transformed the food and drink supplier into a fast-growing competitor in a sector characterized by low returns.
“Historically Tesco CEOs have been in position for a long time but if Lewis were to leave, Wilson would be in a good position to succeed him,” Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Charles Allen said by phone.
The Booker chief increased the company's earnings for 12 consecutive years since taking the reins in 2005, building its online sales to small business. He also diversified Booker away from convenience stores into the faster-growing restaurant and catering markets. Rival Palmer & Harvey collapsed last year.
Wilson brings “substantial commercial and retail experience and has an exceptional track record of increasing performance and driving growth in customer-focused businesses,” Lewis, who is 52, said in a statement.
Lewis, who became Tesco CEO in 2014, has been seen as a possible successor to Unilever chief Paul Polman, who's been at the helm of the consumer-goods giant since 2009. The Anglo-Dutch company has begun a search for a successor, and Lewis ran its personal-care business prior to joining the grocer.
U.K. Recovery
Wilson will succeed Matt Davies, 47, who joined Tesco from auto-parts and bicycle seller Halfords Group Plc just three years ago, when the supermarket operator was near rock bottom after a 2014 accounting scandal. Davies, who will leave in April, has been at the center of Tesco's efforts to improve its image with British shoppers, and has helped oversee a recovery in U.K. sales growth.
Under the terms of the acquisition agreement, Wilson is converting his 108 million Booker shares into Tesco shares. He won't be able to cash in those shares, worth about 240 million pounds, for five years.
The executive shuffle was disclosed as Tesco prepares to complete its acquisition of Booker, which U.K. regulators cleared in December. Tesco shares were down 0.9 percent early Monday in London amid a selloff in global markets.
The retailer forecast operating profit before exceptional items of at least 1.6 billion pounds for the financial year ending Feb. 24. That's roughly in line with analyst estimates. Tesco also said it expects to pay a final dividend of 2 pence per share.
To contact the reporter on this story: Sam Chambers in London at schambers7@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Eric Pfanner at epfanner1@bloomberg.net, Thomas Mulier
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