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Sara Lee Names Smits CFO

Maker of Jimmy Dean sausages and Hillshire Farms deli meats named Dutch telecommunications executive Marcel H. M. Smits as chief financial officer.

DOWNERS GROVE, Ill. (AP) -- Sara Lee Corp. said Tuesday that it named a Dutch telecommunications executive as its next chief financial officer, effective Oct. 1.

Marcel H. M. Smits, 48, is now chief financial officer of Dutch telecom company Koninklijke KPN NV. Earlier he was CFO at the Dutch retail group Vendex KBB, which is now known as Maxeda. He also worked at Unilever for 13 years.

Smits sits on the boards of Dutch insurer Delta Lloyd and Euronext NV, the European subsidiary of NYSE-Euronext.

In May, Sara Lee said that senior vice president of finance, Mark Garvey, would fill-in as an interim chief financial officer while the company searched for a successor to L.M. de Kool, who retired.

Sara Lee makes Jimmy Dean sausages, Hillshire Farms deli meats, Ambi Pur air fresheners and other products.

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