After a long search,Tim Hortons Inc. has finally selected a new CEO and president to succeed executive chairman Paul House.

Marc Caira, 59, was most recently Global CEO of Nestlé Professional. Caira will become president and CEO of Tim Hortons Inc. effective July 2nd, the company announced Wednesday morning.

House will become non-executive Chairman of the Board of Directors at that time.

In his role as global CEO of Nestlé Professional, Caira ran a global organization of 10,000 employees operating in approximately 100 countries, according to the company release.

He was also a member of the Executive Board of Nestlé SA, the world’s largest food and beverage company.

Prior to Nestlé, Caira was president & CEO of Parmalat North America, chief operating officer of Parmalat Canada, and president, food services and Nescafe beverages for Nestlé Canada.

“Marc Caira is an accomplished executive with exceptional knowledge of the North American and global foodservices industry,” said House in a company statement.

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“His knowledge of the out-of-home hot and cold beverage and food sectors is second to none. Marc’s strategic leadership capabilities, vision and tremendous depth of experience make him the ideal leader to take Tim Hortons into the future, and I am confident the Company is in great hands.”

Caira also seemed to reaffirm the direction set by House of continued expansion in Canada, the U.S. and abroad.

“Tim Hortons is an iconic brand and national treasure in Canada, and in my view the Company has tremendous opportunity to build on that while creating successful businesses in the United States and internationally,” Caira said in the company statement.

Caira is travelling with his family in Europe and could not be reached for comment.

Last week, Highfields Capital, a U.S. hedge fund, began agitating for Tim Hortons to boost returns using share buybacks, while also scaling back on its U.S. expansion plans and spinning off a real estate investment trust (REIT) to house its valuable property assets.

The Boston-based activist investor owns a 1.5 per cent stake in Tim Hortons.

House joined Tim Hortons in 1985 as vice-president of marketing at a time when there were just over 200 Tim Horton locations.

The company has been searching for a new CEO since 2011, following an unsuccessful attempt to replace House.

Don Schroeder, promoted from within the company to CEO in 2008, left swiftly three years later.

Since then, House has been charging ahead with product innovation and expansion that has made Tim Hortons the leading quick-service-restaurant leader in Canada.

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House joined Tim Hortons in 1985 as vice-president of marketing at a time when there were just over 200 Tim Horton locations.

As of March 31st, Tim Hortons had 4,288 system wide restaurants, including 3,453 in Canada, 808 in the United States and 27 in the Gulf Cooperation Council.

The Nestlé Professional global out-of-home business was created in 2006, and under Mr. Caira’s leadership, expanded, as Tim Hortons has, in the hot and cold beverage and food sectors, according to company press release.

Tim Hortons also declared a dividend on Wednesday of $0.26 per common share on a slight contraction in net income in what was a “soft” first quarter.

Net income attributable to stockholders was $86.2 million or 56 cents per share in the three months ended March 31.

That was down 2.9 per cent from $88.8 million, also 56 cents per share, in the same 2012 period when the company had more shares.

Adjusted earnings were $137.4 million, up 4.4 per cent from 131.6 million in the 2012 quarter.

Revenue totalled $731.5 million, up 1.4 per cent from $721.3 million.

“While it was a soft quarter as expected, we are taking important steps to continue to expand and enhance our system, improve the guest experience and build value for our shareholders,” House said.

Tim Hortons’ stock is up some 60 per cent over the past five years, while the Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX composite index has fallen roughly 13 per cent over the period.

As of March 31st, 2013, Tim Hortons had 4,288 system wide restaurants, including 3,453 in Canada, 808 in the United States and 27 in the Gulf Cooperation Council.

With files from the Canadian Press

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