Clayton, Dubilier & Rice (“CD&R” or the “Firm”) today announced the appointment of Leslie Starr as an Operating Advisor to CD&R funds. Ms. Starr will work with CD&R's consumer team to advise the funds' consumer businesses.
Ms. Starr brings more than 35 years of experience as a senior executive and leader in the consumer products industry. She most recently was the Executive Vice President of Supply Strategy and Transformation for Advance Auto Parts (“Advance”) from March 2017 until her retirement in December 2018. Ms. Starr is credited with leading the development and execution of the re-architecture of Advance’s business model to deliver transformative financial value.
Ms. Starr spent most of her career with food, snack and beverage multinational PepsiCo. From 2008 to 2017, she was Senior Vice President of PepsiCo Supply Chain with responsibility for Frito Lay's North American Supply Chain. In this role, Ms. Starr led 22,000 employees engaged in supply chain operations for the $14 billion Frito Lay business unit. She championed a set of productivity and go-to-market transformation initiatives that yielded significant improvements and established a competitively advantaged foundation for growth over the next decade. Ms. Starr held numerous executive roles over her 31 years with PepsiCo after beginning her career with Proctor and Gamble.
“Leslie has a demonstrated ability to enable growth and achieve operational excellence that aligns well with CD&R’s disciplined investment strategy,” said J.L. Zrebiec, CD&R Partner. “We believe Leslie’s extensive knowledge and experience helping global businesses operate more efficiently and at lower cost will be instrumental to the CD&R funds as we continue to identify value creation opportunities and expand our capabilities in the consumer sector.”
“CD&R aspires to be great partners who add value by working with management teams to drive operational improvements,” said Ms. Starr. “I look forward to working with the Firm’s investment and operating teams, as well as the management teams of CD&R’s portfolio companies, to help identify and implement meaningful growth opportunities.”
Ms. Starr earned a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Virginia Tech and an MBA from Georgia State University. She sits on the boards of CD&R portfolio companies Shearer’s Foods and S&S Activewear as well as the boards of SunOpta (NASDAQ: STKL) and Westrock Coffee Company.
About Clayton, Dubilier & Rice
Founded in 1978, CD&R is a leading private investment firm with a strategy of generating strong investment returns by building more robust and sustainable businesses through the combination of skilled investment experience and deep operating capabilities. In partnership with the management teams of its portfolio companies, CD&R takes a long-term view of value creation and emphasizes positive stewardship and impact. The firm invests in businesses that span a broad range of industries, including industrial, healthcare, consumer, technology and financial services end markets. CD&R is privately owned by its partners and has offices in New York and London. For more information, please visit www.cdr-inc.com and follow the firm’s activities through LinkedIn and @CDRBuilds on X/Twitter.