Natura Executive Chairman Marques named group CEO as Avon deal closes

(Reuters) - Brazilian personal care cosmetics maker Natura & Co Holding SA <NTCO3.SA> on Friday named Executive Chairman Roberto Marques as group chief executive officer after closing its acquisition of Avon Products Inc <AVP.N>.

Jan Zijderveld, Avon's Chief Executive Officer, also stepped down following the completion of the deal. He will be succeeded by Angela Cretu, a veteran of the London-headquartered cosmetics maker, who most recently served as general manager of its Central Europe division.

Cretu will report to Marques, along with the chief executives of other Natura-owned brands, Aesop and The Body Shop, the company said.

Marques joined Natura's board four years ago and spearheaded a global expansion that included the acquisition of The Body Shop in 2017.

Natura agreed to buy Avon in 2019 through a share swap that valued the over 130-year-old company's equity at around $2 billion.

The buyout came at a time when the door-to-door selling pioneer was struggling with falling sales amid changing consumer preferences.

Avon and Natura will have a combined 3,000 stores worldwide, annual gross revenue of over $10 billion and more than 40,000 employees, Natura said.

The Sao Paulo-based company said it expects its American depositary receipts to begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange on Monday.

(Reporting by Kanishka Singh and Uday Sampath in Bengaluru; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty and Sriraj Kalluvila)