His appointment comes at a crucial time for Unilever. The Anglo-Dutch maker of Ragu pasta sauce and Dove soap is undergoing a shake-up under Patrick Cescau, who joined as chief executive 19 months ago.

Mr Cescau introduced a recovery strategy after it shocked investors in September 2004 with a profits warning.

Last month Unilever said that third-quarter sales had climbed 4.8 per cent after Mr Cescau cut thousands of jobs and disposed of the company’s frozen foods division.

The expected appointment of Mr Treschow follows a lengthy search led by Lord Simon, a non-executive director. Mr Treschow is highly respected in Sweden, where he heads the Confederation of Swedish Enterprise.

He is close to Sweden’s influential Wallenberg family. They control Electrolux and Atlas Copco, where he served as chief executive before joining Ericsson. Mr Treschow, who once described restructuring as “a part of daily life”, sacked 40,000 workers from Electrolux to control costs.

The Swedish press balked at Mr Treschow’s pay last year, when he was named the country’s best-paid executive. In 2005 he earned about 6.8million Swedish crowns (£502,000) for his chairmanship of Ericsson, and directorships at Electrolux and Atlas Copco.

At Unilever, Mr Treschow is tipped to replace Antony Burgmans, who is expected to step down in May.

Unilever last night declined to comment.

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