(Sharecast News) - Rentokil Initial named Brad Paulsen as the new chief executive officer of the North America region on Friday.

The FTSE 100 hygiene and pest control specialist said Paulsen would become a member of its executive leadership team and would report directly to CEO Andy Ransom.

Prior to joining Rentokil Initial, Paulsen served as the CEO of electrical distributor Rexel USA.

His professional journey also included a tenure as the chief operating officer at HD Supply, one of the largest maintenance, repair, and operating products distributors in the United States, and over nine years of leadership roles in merchandising at the Home Depot.

Brad Paulsen's education included a Bachelor of Science in Economics from the United States Military Academy at West Point, along with a Master of Business Administration from Vanderbilt University.

Furthermore, he has been a non-executive director for Dot Family Holdings, North America's largest food industry redistributor, for the last two years.

Additionally, Rentokil Initial appointed Will Lin as vice-president of performance and digital marketing, North America.

It said Lin would bring a wealth of experience in digital marketing and a strong background in data and analytics to his role.

His most recent position was as chief marketing officer at Simplilearn, a global learning platform for digital skills.

Prior to that, he held roles at notable companies including Rent.com, Vrbo, Microsoft and Hewlett-Packard.

"Brad has gained significant leadership experience from his years at Rexel, HD Supply and Home Depot, across a mix of multi-site retail and route-based service organisations," said chief executive officer Andy Ransom.

"We have a significant opportunity for growth and value creation as we integrate Terminix in North America and Brad brings a proven track record of successful delivery.

"We're delighted to welcome him at this exciting time for the company."

At 0823 GMT, shares in Rentokil Initial were down 0.12% at 428.2p.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.