Coty promotes Laurent Mercier to chief financial officer

By

Gabriella Lacombe

Published
Dec 10, 2020

Coty Inc. has announced the promotion of Laurent Mercier to the role of chief financial officer, effective February 15, 2021. 

Mercier, who is based in Coty’s Amsterdam headquarters, is currently Coty’s deputy CFO, and has been with the company since 2017. As CFO, he will join the executive committee and report directly to chief executive officer, Sue Y. Nabi. 

Mercier began his career with Coty as CFO of its Luxury division in 2017, where he increased operating income by more than 50% in two years, while maintaining mid-single digit LFL (like-for-like) sales growth, the company said. Prior to joining Coty, he spent 20 years at global food and beverage company Danone, where he held several leadership roles including CFO of Evian Volvic Germany; CFO for Asia, Middle East and Africa; and leading Danone’s European Dairy business.

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As CFO, Mercier will continue driving Coty’s turnaround program together with Gordon von Bretten, who leads the execution of Coty’s $600 million fixed cost reduction program in his role as chief transformation officer, the company said. 

"As a company, we are 100% focused on diligent cost control and reigniting sustainable sales growth, and we will continue to deliver on our robust financial commitments, including reaching leverage of 5x by end of CY21 and less than 3x in the medium term," Mercier said. 

He succeeds Pierre-André Terisse, who he worked with closely at both Coty and during their previous roles at Danone. Once Mercier takes on the CFO role, Terisse will serve as a Coty designated member of the board of hair care brand, Wella.

Mercier's promotion announcement follows the completed sale of a majority stake in Coty's professional and retail hair business—including the Wella, Clairol, OPI and GHD brands—to KKR, a private equity firm, in late November. 

“[Mercier] is a very capable leader who has been instrumental in the financial transformation of Coty during an extremely challenging operating environment, building a stronger, more focused and top line oriented business that’s set up for profitable growth," Nabi said. 

"[Mercier] knows this business inside-out, playing a critical role in recent months in allocating resources and marketing investments behind the most promising opportunities. He brings a wealth of global experience, both from his time here at Coty and from high-profile leadership roles at Danone.”

Other recent additions to the Coty leadership include Stefano Curti, who joined as chief brands officer, consumer beauty in early December; Alexis Vaganay, who was promoted to chief commercial officer, consumer beauty that same month; Isabelle Bonfanti, who was named as chief commercial officer, luxury in October; and Jean-Denis Mariani, who was also named in October as chief digital officer.