Adidas on Thursday said that it has "begun a search to replace" Chair & CEO HERBERT HAINER, who "has led the company through years of success but recently struggled to meet profit targets, sparking investor pressure for change at the top," according to Natalia Drozdiak of the WALL STREET JOURNAL. Hainer "has presided over the world’s No. 2 sportswear maker" since '01. His contract was extended last year until March '17, and the company at the time said that the move "was to allow time to find a successor." Thursday's announcement about the CEO search in a letter to employees "was the first time the company had provided detail about the search." Hainer in the letter said that adidas "was looking at internal and external candidates to replace him." He added that the company "will present a five-year strategic plan in March" (WSJ, 2/19). BLOOMBERG's Aaron Ricadela reported adidas is "trying to recover from a difficult past year" in which its sponsorship of the two FIFA World Cup finalists was overshadowed by a scrapping of financial targets, as well as "lost market share" to Nike. Ricadela cited a report from Germany-based Manager magazine as stating that Switzerland-based search firm Egon Zehnder "is conducting the hunt" for Hainer's replacement (BLOOMBERG, 2/19).
