Sara Lee CEO Brenda Barnes takes temporary medical leave, CFO becomes interim chief

Sara Lee CEO Brenda Barnes takes medical leave

DOWNERS GROVE, Ill. — Sara Lee Corp. CEO Brenda Barnes will take a temporary medical leave, effective immediately, the food maker said Friday.

The company declined to provide further information about Barnes, who has been CEO since 2005.

Chief Financial Officer Marcel Smits will take over as interim CEO until the 56-year-old Barnes returns, the board decided.

Board member James Crown will take over Barnes’ role as chairman.

Mark Garvey, currently senior vice president for global business services and corporate controller, will serve as interim chief financial officer.

The company said Crown, Smits and the company’s CEO of North American Retail and Foodservice, Christopher John Fraleigh, will jointly ensure Sara Lee maintains its strategic focus.

Barnes has been concentrating on the company’s core food and beverage business, including its namesake baked goods and brands such as Jimmy Dean and Hillshire Farms. The company is selling off units that don’t involve those products.

Sara Lee, based in Downers Grove, Ill., sold its personal-care business to Unilever NV and is selling its Ambi Pure air freshener business to Procter & Gamble Co. Earlier this week it announced it will its majority stake in a joint venture in India that makes insecticides for about $233.6 million (185 million euros).

The company also has cut costs to improve profitability.

Barnes joined Sara Lee as president and chief operating officer in 2004.

Smits joined the company last October from Dutch telecom company Koninklijke KPN NV, where he was chief financial officer.

Sara Lee reported a loss last week for its fiscal third quarter, which was hurt by significant charges and flat revenue. But the company’s adjusted earnings per share beat estimates and it raised its forecast for the year above expectations.