Who Will Replace Jung at Avon?

The Avon Board is making its list of replacements for CEO Andrea Jung and checking it twice. Some names that have been floated around in recent days include former P&G execs Ed Shirley and Susan Arnold, Bare Escentuals’ Leslie Blodgett, HSN’s Mindy Grossman and John Demsey of Estee Lauder. All of them are beauty industry veterans, but analysts say the most able replacements may not want to head up a company where Jung will serve as executive chairman for at least two more years, according to her contract.

At the same time, Wall Street types suggest that Avon may be ripe for a takeover by a private equity group. We’ve heard that talk before. Back in 1989, Avon was a takeover target, but the company managed to survive and even thrive throughout the 1990s and into the new millennium. Now, with Jung headed, albeit slowly, toward the door, the company will benefit from a numbers-centric leader who can get the books in order before taking the steps necessary to rally the direct sales force.