ZURICH >> Nestle said on Tuesday its chairman Paul Bulcke would hand over to former Inditex CEO Pablo Isla on Oct. 1, accelerating a changing of the guard at the Swiss food giant after an unprecedented period of managerial turmoil.

The decision comes just two weeks after Laurent Freixe was abruptly fired as CEO over an undisclosed relationship, and clears the way for new CEO Philipp Navratil and Isla to take full charge of the company that has struggled in recent years as sales growth stalled and debt rose.

Questions were raised about Bulcke’s position by analysts and shareholders following the revelations about Freixe’s romantic relationship with a subordinate, which led to his ouster just a year after he had taken the reins at the maker of KitKat chocolate bars and Nescafe coffee.

Han

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