[UPDATED] Kimberly-Clark consolidates North and South Asia operations

The new region will be led by Achal Agarwal, who will be promoted from President, North Asia, to President, Asia-Pacific, effective 1 March. Agarwal will be based in Hong Kong, and his leadership team will include the managing directors of ASEAN, Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Korea, and Taiwan, as well as the region's finance, HR, IT, legal, and product-supply leaders. 

Kimberly-Clark is still in the process of sorting out its marketing function under this new structure and is unable to disclose at present whether it will be substantially affected, or whether its current agency agreements will be subjected to change. "That will be announced a little later," Kimberly-Clark North Asia strategy manager Juliana Chu told Campaign.

Chu added that to her knowledge, the streamlining process will not include a reduction in staff headcount. "The consolidation will actually present increased opportunities for staff," she said. 

Current Kimberly-Clark president for South Asia, Mark Wynne, will be leaving the company at the end of February. He declined a posting at the company's headquarters in Dallas, according to the company. 

Update 23 February, 11:24 am: A spokesperson for Kimberly-Clark got in touch to confirm that there would be no change in the firm's marketing operations as "most of the resources are at the country level". However, a new marketing lead for Asia-Pacifif will be announced shortly. The spokesperson added that Kimberly-Clark's agency alingments would not change as a result of the consolidation.