The company said outgoing Chief Executive Officer Rick Anderson will become executive chairman on a temporary basis from May 9 and will work with senior leadership until Bitar joins on Sept. 30. After that, Anderson will serve as interim non-executive chair.

The announcement, which confirms a Sky News report, comes after the catheter and colostomy bag maker reported disappointing annual results and launched a turnaround plan in February.

ConvaTec has been struggling to find its footing after being hit by logistical issues, recalls and a change in inventory policy by a leading customer, named by analysts as Medtronic.

The company's former CEO Paul Moraviec, who guided ConvaTec through a $1.8 billion initial public offering in 2016, stepped down last October following warnings of lower sales and profitability, which had sent shares plummeting to a record low.

Analysts at Peel Hunt said that a turnaround is unlikely "overnight", but Bitar's track record of investing to deliver transformation at Genus bodes well for ConvaTec.

"There will, no doubt, be some investor regret that a successful CEO is moving on but Genus has a well-established wider management team and a clear strategy to which the board is fully committed," Liberum analysts said.

Genus, an animal genetics company, said it has started a search for a new CEO.

(Reporting by Shashwat Awasthi and Tanishaa Nadkar in Bengaluru; Editing by Bernard Orr)