UNILEVER, the Anglo-Dutch conglomerate, has appointed headhunter Egon Zehnder to search for a new chief executive after Patrick Cescau told the board that he intends to step down next May.

The headhunter has been asked to evaluate external candidates, but it is thought the eventual successor will be chosen from one of the group’s top tier of directors.

Cescau has overseen a revolution at Unilever, which owns brands such as Sunsilk, Dove, Persil and Flora, since his appointment five years ago. He earned £3.1m including bonus last year.

He has been at the company for 35 years but said he would take the top job only if Unilever’s arcane dual board structure was abolished. At the time the company was headed by two chairmen and three executive committees.

When that structure was dismantled, Cescau was able to take huge costs out of the business and rebuild the company round its personal-care products and focus on emerging markets. Swathes of middle managers were made redundant as Cescau cut out the duplication that had been built up around regional fiefdoms.

He keeps a low profile and his mantra is that he wants to be judged on his actions rather than his words. He turns 60 this autumn and could yet become chairman of another large company.

His decision to step down opens the way for an internal race to succeed him between two directors from America and two from India. One analyst said: “This is a group with huge bench strength and it is one that normally always promotes from within.”

The contest will be overseen by two Unilever board directors who sit on the nominations committee. They are Lord Simon and Jeroen van der Veer, who is currently preparing to step down as chief executive of Royal Dutch Shell, the oil giant.

Four candidates head the internal list. Jim Lawrence joined from General Mills a year ago as finance director. He was also a co-founder of the highly rated corporate-strategy consultancy LEK.

Another is Mike Polk, who runs the North American division. Polk, who is in his mid-forties, is the youngest and if he misses this job he could swiftly be poached by a rival.

The remaining two are Harish Manwani, who is chairman of Hindustan Unilever, and Vindi Banga, Unilever’s president for foods, home and personal care.

Unilever will this week report its 14th consecutive quarter of growth, and the restructuring will continue. Just last week the company sold its Bertolli olive oil business to Grupo SOS, Spain’s second-largest food group, for £500m as part of its disposal of non-core businesses. Last November the group sold its French cheese brand Boursin to Le Groupe Bel.

Taking control of a company the size of Unilever, which has a market value of £41 billion, is a gruelling job. One of Cescau’s first acts was to start a fitness regime with a personal trainer at the London head office.

Analysts said the key areas for Unilever to conquer are India and China. Those countries will provide a whole new market for the group.

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