Sara Lee Appoints Cary McMillan CEO of Worldwide Branded Apparel; Theo De Kool Appointed Company's CFO

Business Wire, Nov 1, 2001

Business Editors

CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 1, 2001

Sara Lee Corporation announced today that it has named Cary D. McMillan to the position of chief executive officer of its worldwide branded apparel business. Branded Apparel, which reports as the Intimates and Underwear line of business, is the corporation's largest business segment, with fiscal 2001 sales of $7.8 billion.

McMillan, 43, is an executive vice president of the corporation, and currently serves as Sara Lee's chief financial and administrative officer. In his new role, McMillan assumes immediate responsibility for the branded apparel business and will continue to report to Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer C. Steven McMillan (no relation). In addition, Cary McMillan will maintain his current responsibilities through calendar 2001. Paul J. Lustig, CEO of North American Branded Apparel, is leaving Sara Lee to pursue other interests.

As of January 1, 2002, L.M. (Theo) de Kool, will become Chief Financial Officer of Sara Lee Corporation, and it is anticipated that he will be named an executive vice president of the corporation at the next regularly scheduled meeting of Sara Lee's board of directors. De Kool, 48, currently is a senior vice president of Sara Lee Corporation and serves as chief financial officer and a member of the board of management of Sara Lee/DE, based in The Netherlands. In his new capacity, De Kool will report to C. Steven McMillan.

"Cary McMillan has had a tremendous impact on our initiative to reshape Sara Lee, and we are very pleased that we have the opportunity to focus his exceptional leadership skills on furthering the growth and development of our global branded apparel business," said Steve McMillan. "We are also fortunate that we have someone with Theo de Kool's proven financial acumen and management capability to assume the role of Sara Lee's chief financial officer. The company will clearly benefit as both Cary and Theo apply their skills and knowledge to their new responsibilities."

Cary McMillan joined Sara Lee in 1999 as chief financial and administrative officer following a career at Arthur Andersen. He started at Arthur Andersen in 1980 as a staff accountant, and assumed positions of increasing responsibility through the years, becoming a partner with the firm in 1992 and managing partner of Arthur Andersen's Chicago office in 1998.

The global branded apparel business that Cary McMillan now directs is the leading business of its kind in the world. Focused on basic, branded products in intimate apparel, underwear, legwear and activewear, it holds leading share positions in North America, Europe and several South American markets with a family of well-known brands including Hanes, Bali, Hanes Her Way, Wonderbra, Just My Size, DIM, Lovable, Playtex, Champion, L'eggs and Pretty Polly.

De Kool began his career at Sara Lee in 1990 as vice president of finance for the Household and Personal Care division of Sara Lee/DE. In 1993, De Kool left Sara Lee/DE to serve as chief financial officer of the Blokker retail chain. He rejoined Sara Lee/DE in 1995 as chief financial officer and a member of Sara Lee/DE's board of management. De Kool was named a vice president of Sara Lee Corporation in 1996 and a senior vice president in 2001. Prior to joining Sara Lee, he held positions with Buhrmann Tertterode and CPC Benelux, B.V.

As chief financial officer, De Kool will have responsibility for the corporation's accounting, audit, corporate systems, tax and treasury departments.

Sara Lee Corporation (www.saralee.com) is a global branded consumer packaged goods company with approximately $20 billion in annual revenues. Its leading brands include Sara Lee, Douwe Egberts, Hillshire Farm, Kiwi, Hanes and Playtex.