Birds Eye picks Glenn for top job

Former PepsiCo chief Martin Glenn has been appointed as chief executive of Iglo Birds Eye, the frozen foods business bought by Permira from Unilever for 1.73bn (1.16bn) last month.

Glenn, who left his role as president of PepsiCo UK last October, had led a rival bid for the company by a private equity group comprising CapVest, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and CVC. The bid failed because of potential regulatory concerns relating to CapVest ownership of Young’s Bluecrest and Findus.

Glenn was approached by Permira – which was reported last week to be readying a 600m bid for Britvic Soft Drinks until news of the bid leaked to the media forced a withdrawal – as it believes it can benefit from Glenn’s knowledge and expertise in the food industry.

Glenn, who will start in the post on November 6, joined PepsiCo in 1992, and became an influential figure in the industry, working to raise awareness of issues in the debate over obesity. Prior to that he worked for the Mars petcare business.