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NEW YORK — Coty Inc. is promoting executive vice president Camillo Pane to chief executive officer.
Coty said Thursday that Pane is slated to take the CEO reins after the company closes its deal to acquire Procter & Gamble Co.’s specialty beauty business. The transaction, announced last July, is expected to close in October.
Camillo Pane
Bart Becht, who has served as interim CEO, will remain chairman, Coty said.
With his promotion to CEO, Pane also will become a member of Coty’s board. “I am honored to become the CEO of Coty at such a great moment for the company,” he said in a statement. “The new Coty will have a strong portfolio of consumer-loved beauty brands with excellent potential and a highly experienced management team, which it will be my privilege to lead.”
Pane has served as executive vice president of category development, and as a member of the executive committee, since joining Coty last July, leading the development of the company’s portfolio, category and brand strategies as well as its beauty brand equities and innovation pipeline.
In a business and leadership reorganization announced in November, Coty had tabbed Pane as chief growth and digital officer, responsible for innovation, marketing and sales capabilities across divisions and the company’s digital media and e-commerce activities — a move now superseded by his ascension to CEO.
Before coming to Coty, Pane spent 20 years at Reckitt Benckiser (RB), most recently as head of its global health and personal care business. He played a key role in that company’s move into consumer health, transforming the segment into RB’s fastest-growing division, according to Coty. Pane’s career in marketing and general management has taken him to Italy, the United States, Brazil and the United Kingdom.
“I’m very pleased to see Camillo appointed as CEO of Coty,” Becht stated. “He has an excellent track record of accelerating growth, improving business performance and strengthening capabilities to create a best-in-class organization. At Coty, he has already shown himself to be a very strong leader with an intense drive and passion to make Coty the new global challenger in beauty for the benefit of consumers and shareholders alike.”
Coty said there will be a steady transition at CEO as the company focuses on driving sales growth and providing a smooth post-merger integration. Plans call for Becht to continue to focus on the integration and Pane to concentrate on accelerating revenue growth in preparation for moving into the CEO post.
Coty’s product offerings include such brands as adidas, Calvin Klein, Chloé, Davidoff, Marc Jacobs, OPI, philosophy, Playboy, Rimmel and Sally Hansen.
Coty has been making sweeping changes aimed at increasing its clout in the global beauty industry. The company last fall paid nearly $1 billion for several Brazilian beauty brands owned by Sao Paulo-based Hypermarcas SA. And Coty recently announced a new organizational structure as it readies to take control of the 43 beauty brands being purchased from P&G. As part of the new organization, Coty plans to relocate its executive management team to London to give members greater proximity to key growth markets.
