Swiss food and drinks giant Nestle SA Americas chief Paul Polman has resigned.
Polman is leaving to become chief executive of rival company Unilever PLC, the Netherlands-based company said in a separate statement.
The 52-year-old Dutchman was tapped as a possible successor to Nestle CEO Peter Brabeck-Letmathe, but lost out to Paul Bulcke last year.
Nestle said its Europe chief Luis Cantarell will take over the Americas region from Polman, who had been with the company for 29 years.