Denmark-born Andersen, 45, will be appointed to the Executive Board as of May 18, 2015, having recently held several management positions at Colgate-Palmolive worldwide since 1994, most recently in New York as CFO North America.
“Jesper Andersen’s career and professional success illustrate the internationalization of Beiersdorf,” said Reinhard Pöllath, Chairman of the Supervisory Board.
Company CEO Stefan F. Heidenreich adds that the arrival of Andersen is an exciting one that will hopefully propel the company forward in the future.
“His experience in finance on three different continents will play a significant role in continuing to drive our company forward,” he says.
Departure
Heidenreich goes on to add that the departure of Ulrich Schmidt, 62, is a big loss for the company, and thanks him for all of his work over the years.
“Ulrich Schmidt is and always will be a member of the Beiersdorf family, and represents the core values of our company – together we have successfully transformed Beiersdorf in the last few years with our Blue Agenda,” says the Beiersdorf boss.
Andersen will gradually take over responsibility for the Finance Division from Schmidt as of September 1, with the outgoing man retiring at the end of the Annual General Meeting on March 31, 2016, having worked at Beiersdorf for over 30 years in a variety of management positions.
“Ulrich Schmidt is rounding off more than 30 years’ successful work at Beiersdorf with this orderly transition. His extensive expertise and foresight have been instrumental in shaping Beiersdorf for many years,” adds Pöllath,
Experience
Andersen holds a Master Degree in Economics and Business Administration from Aarhus school of Business in Denmark, and began his career at Colgate-Palmolive in 1994.
In the following years, he held a number of managerial positions in the area of finance, including in Europe, Asia, and North America.
He joins the Nivea skin care maker after they posted a sales increase 6.9%, from €1.596 billion to €1.706 billion, for the first quarter 2015.