L'Oreal CEO to take on chairman position-paper

PARIS Feb 6 (Reuters) - L'Oreal (OREP.PA) Chief Executive Jean-Paul Agon is to take over the position of board chairman at the cosmetics group in March from Lindsay Owen-Jones, a French newspaper reported Sunday. The board is due to approve the passing of the baton when it meets on Thursday on the company's results, the weekly Journal du Dimanche reported without giving its sources.

Jean-Paul Agon

Owen-Jones will then stand down the day of his 65th birthday, March 17, capping a career of more than 40 years at L'Oreal.

The company declined to comment on the report when contacted by Reuters on Sunday.

Agon previously ran Greek, German, Asian and U.S. units of the company he joined in 1978 before he took over from Owen-Jones as CEO in 2006. Owen-Jones is a legend in French business for turning L'Oreal from a French haircare specialist into a global cosmetics giant while he was CEO from 1988 to 2006.

(Reporting by Leigh Thomas and Clement Guillou; Editing by David Holmes)