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 Rorsted, who will leave Henkel in April, will take charge of Adidas
on Oct. 1, replacing Herbert Hainer, 61, who has headed the
sportswear maker since 2001 as the longest-serving boss of a leading
German company.
Adidas shares jumped 9.8 percent by 1109 GMT, heading for their
biggest one-day gain in more than seven years, while Henkel was down
3.8 percent.
Hainer had come under fire as Adidas has lost market share to Nike <NKE.N>,
particularly in the key U.S. market, prompting the board last year
to launch a search for a successor.
Investors had hoped Adidas would appoint an external candidate,
believing an outsider might be more likely to take tough decisions
to boost profitability and potentially sell more non-core
businesses, such as fitness brand Reebok.
Since Rorsted took over at Henkel in 2008, shares in the maker of
Schwarzkopf hair care products and Loctite glue have more than
tripled, while its annual sales have grown by more than a third to
around 18 billion euros estimated for 2015.
In November, Henkel posted a larger than expected rise in
third-quarter profit as sales in North America and Russia more than
offset weakness in its Chinese adhesives business.
Rorsted has a reputation as a cost cutter who helped restructure
Henkel, but faced challenges in the United States, the company's
biggest market, where competition from the likes of Procter & Gamble
<PG.N> and Unilever <ULVR.L> is fierce.
In response, Rorsted, who says he spends 200 days of the year
traveling, has overhauled management in the U.S. market, where
Henkel has also launched products popular in Europe -- Persil
laundry detergent and Schwarzkopf shampoo.
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Rorsted, who is known as a keen skier and fan of soccer club Bayern
Munich, is married with four children and his family already live in
Munich, meaning he will have less far to commute to his new job in
the northern Bavarian town of Herzogenaurach.
Henkel board member Hans Van Bylen, who is responsible for Henkel's
Beauty Care business, will take over as Henkel CEO on May 1, the
company said, adding it would name a successor for Van Bylen in due
course.
Henkel said Van Bylen, 54, would be responsible for the development
of the Henkel strategy for 2017-2020 which would be communicated by
the end of the year.
(Additional reporting by Matthias Inverardi in Duesseldorf)
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