FRANKFURT, Germany – Shoe and sports-gear maker Adidas AG says it is bringing in Kasper Rorsted, the head of consumer products company Henkel, as its next CEO.
Adidas said in a statement Monday that Rorsted will take over from Herbert Hainer on Oct. 1.
Rorsted is to join the top management board in August to start the transition before then.
Adidas board chairman Igor Landau said in a statement that the Danish-born Rorsted, 53, was "the perfect candidate" due to extensive international experience at Oracle, Compaq and Hewlett Packard, in addition to eight years heading Henkel.
Laundau said Hainer, 61, "has done a tremendous job" in his 15 years as Adidas CEO, during which sales tripled and the company's value rose from 3 billion euros ($3.3 billion) to 18 billion.
Hainer is leaving five months ahead of the expiration of his contract.
Adidas shares spiked higher on the news, initially trading up more than 12 percent. They remained 7.1 percent higher at 90.00 euros per share in early afternoon trading in Europe.
Henkel, which makes Schwarzkopf hair products, Loctite glue and Persil detergent, said beauty care chief Hans Van Bylen would replace Rorsted.
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