Reckitt Benckiser pencils in ex-Pepsi man Sinclair as chairman

Reckitt Benckiser Group has chosen Chris Sinclair to be its next chairman after Adrian Bellamy decided he will retire from the role next year.

At the 2018 annual shareholder meeting Bellamy will hand over to Sinclair, who has served on the board since 2015.

Sinclair is former president and CEO of PepsiCo's food and beverage division, and more recently was chairman and CEO of toy-maker Mattel, and held executive chairman roles at Scandent Holdings and Cambridge Solutions.

In a stock market statement, Reckitt highlighted Sinclair's experience combined "both strategic and operational capability, and brings deep knowledge of the consumer goods sector and international markets".

"His extensive track record in developing trusted consumer brands around the world and deep experience in emerging markets make him ideally suited to lead the next phase of RB's future," the company said, highlighting his role strengthening and extending brands internationally at PepsiCo and strong focus on innovation, e-commerce and quality at Mattel.

Bellamy departs after overseeing RB's transformation from a household cleaning company into the global consumer health and hygiene conglomerate.

Since he took over as chairman, investors have enjoyed a total shareholder return of 823%, compared with 207% for the FTSE 100 as a whole, the company calculated.

As part of the transition, Sinclair has replaced Bellamy as chairman of the nomination committee.

He said: "RB is an outstanding company with leading brands and a very strong sense of purpose. I would like to pay tribute to Adrian's leadership and stewardship which has contributed to RB's success over many years. The company has a strong track record of outperformance and as a board we will continue to have a clear focus on maximizing the opportunities to outperform in the future."