WSJ News Exclusive | Procter & Gamble Ex-CEO David Taylor to Join Private-Equity Firm CD&R

Based in New York, CD&R has lengthy employed a mannequin of pairing investing professionals with specialists in working corporations—generally known as working companions or advisers—to purchase companies and try to enhance their performances.

Mr. Taylor will be a part of a roster of high executives who’ve come to the private-equity agency from American corporations, together with

John Compton,

former

PepsiCo Inc.

president, and

Sandra Peterson,

beforehand group world-wide chairman at

Johnson & Johnson.

Operating companions have been recognized to step in and lead portfolio corporations on an interim foundation, reminiscent of a latest stint by Mr. Compton on the helm of the CD&R-owned pet-products maker, Radio Systems Corp.

CD&R, which manages about $57 billion, is within the strategy of making an attempt to elevate at least $20 billion for its subsequent fund, The Wall Street Journal has reported.

The agency was based in 1978 by Joseph Rice, Martin Dubilier and Eugene Clayton. Mr. Rice had come from funding banking, whereas Messrs. Dubilier and Clayton had labored as company executives and administration consultants. The three, in accordance to the agency, decided that discovering a method to mix their collective abilities was extra vital than monetary engineering when it got here to attaining sustainable efficiency within the buyout enterprise.

Today the agency will get over 80% of its returns from working enhancements at its portfolio corporations, with the rest from adjusting capital constructions and different components, stated CD&R Chief Executive

Nate Sleeper.

Mr. Taylor, 64 years outdated, throughout his tenure at P&G, held management roles in operations and advertising and marketing, managed manufacturing websites and led numerous shopper manufacturers throughout North America, Europe and Asia.

He took over as CEO in 2015, when P&G was struggling to develop within the postrecession years. Sales initially slowed much more, main to a proxy combat with the activist investor

Nelson Peltz,

who for a time had a seat on the corporate’s board.

Mr. Taylor doubled down on P&G’s stalwart manufacturers, which embrace Tide and Gillette, ignoring those that stated the corporate ought to reduce its reliance on them and put money into e-commerce startups. His technique labored, notably in the course of the pandemic, when customers flocked to the best-known names.

Mr. Taylor stated he hadn’t initially thought-about a transfer to personal fairness however was received over by the CD&R mannequin.

“This focus on operational excellence and the value that they put on someone with my background surprised me a bit,” he stated. “It’s the power of diverse thinking, and they understand that.”

Write to Miriam Gottfried at Miriam.Gottfried@wsj.com