AVON PRODUCTS has appointed Sheri McCoy, a Johnson Johnson executive, as its new chief executive as it continues to fend off an unsolicited takeover approach from Coty.

Ms McCoy’s appointment is likely to complicate the next moves by Coty, a privately owned fragrance group. It is planning to start wooing Avon investors to put pressure on the board, which rejected Coty’s bid last week.

Avon has been searching for a new chief executive since Andrea Jung, who is staying on as its chairman, said she was ready to step down from the role in December, contributing to a sense that the company was “rudderless”, as one analyst put it.

Since January 2011, Ms McCoy has been vice-chairman at Johnson & Johnson with responsibility for its pharmaceutical and consumer businesses, which make up more than 60 per cent of its $65 billion annual revenue. She was previously head of its pharmaceuticals business for two years.

Bart Becht, the Coty chairman who is leading the bid, said last week that it “wouldn’t be helpful” for Avon to appoint a new chief executive.

“It’s not productive to do that when you’re smack in the middle of exploring alternative options and I’m not sure they would do that,” he told the Financial Times. “Would we fundamentally change our approach? No, unlikely. But it just wouldn’t be helpful.”

McCoy faces the task of turning around a company that has suffered sliding sales at home and in emerging markets such as Brazil and Russia. The new chief executive will also be charged with boosting the morale of its diminished and often demoralised army of US sales representatives.

The company, famous for the “Ding Dong, Avon Calling” advertisements in the 1950s and 1960s, also faces a federal probe into whether it broke US anti-bribery laws overseas.

Fred Hassan, lead director of Avon’s board, said: “Sheri has a unique combination of strategic and finely-honed operational skills, a significant turnround record, global experience and people leadership. – Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2012/Reuters