The private equity owners of supermarket chain Morrisons are on the hunt for a new chief executive officer, it was reported on Monday.
According to Sky News, US-based Clayton Dubilier & Rice had retained the services of management consultancy Egon Zehnder in a bid to bolster the retailer’s executive team.
CD&R led a successful bid to take the formerly-London listed Wm. Morrison private, with shareholders accepting the £7bn deal late in the summer of 2021.
Sky cited “industry sources” as saying that Edon Zehnder had been courting possible replacements for current CEO David Potts, who has headed Morrisons since 2015.
It said Potts was not expected to depart until 2024 at the earliest, with his current focus on improving Morrisons’ trading performance after it was knocked off its perch as Britain’s third-biggest supermarket by limited-assortment discounter Aldi.
The report claimed a number of internal candidates would be posturing for the top job, after the company’s chief operating officer Trevor Strain – long expected to succeed Potts – departed earlier in the year.
Sky said one source claimed CD&R was working on succession planning “continuously”, adding that former Tesco CEO and longstanding CD&R ally Sir Terry Leahy would assist in the process as chairman of Morrisons.
Neither the Bradford-based Morrisons or CD&R commented on the report as of lunchtime on Monday.
Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.
