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Bloomberg
Woolworths Holdings Ltd appointed Roy Bagattini from Levi Strauss & Co as chief executive officer to replace Ian Moir, who will step down after nine years at the helm of the South African retailer.
Bagattini, 56, will start next month, the Cape Town-based company said in a statement. He is the head of the Americas region of the US jeans maker, where he has worked since 2013. Before that, the South African held senior roles at brewers Carlsberg A/S and SABMiller.
The shares jumped on the news, gaining as much as 5% in early trade in Johannesburg.
“Roy has extensive operational, management and turnaround experience in global consumer and retail markets,†Woolworths Chairman Hubert Brody said.
Bagattini’s new role puts him in charge of a retailer specialising in upmarket food and clothing in its home market, where consumers are battling to overcome an economic slowdown and persistent nationwide power cuts have hurt business sentiment.
Moir led Woolworths’s expansion into Australia almost six years ago with the acquisition of the David Jones chain of department stores.