Sara Lee Corp. announced that CJ Fraleigh, chief executive officer of North America, has resigned from the company to pursue other opportunities. The company has commenced a search for Fraleigh's successor, with the objective of making an appointment as soon as possible. In the interim, Sara Lee Corp. Chief Executive Officer Marcel Smits will also assume responsibilities for leading the North American business, and Fraleigh will be available to Smits during this transition.
"CJ played an important role in taking the North American business to this stage in its development," said Jan Bennink, executive chairman of the board of Sara Lee Corp. "We now believe that a different approach is needed to transition the North American business into a pure-play company."