D&B Chief Executive Alesio to retire

SHORT HILLS, N.J.

Dun & Bradstreet Corp. CEO Steven Alesio will retire next year and the company on Thursday named the chief operating officer, Sara Mathew, his successor.

Mathew, 54, has been president and chief operating officer since 2007. She will take over CEO duties Jan. 1, 2010, and retain the president title.

Alesio, 55, plans to leave June 30, 2010. He will continue as board chairman until July 1, when Mathew becomes chairwoman.

The company has no immediate plans to fill the chief operating officer position.

Alesio, 55, was named chief executive officer in January 2005. He joined the company in 2001. He previously spent 19 years with American Express Co.

Mathew joined the company in 2001 as chief financial officer. Previously, she spent 18 years with Procter & Gamble Co., where she served in a number of executive positions in finance and general management.

Shares of Dun & Bradstreetl, a Short Hills, N.J., provider of business information, fell 27 cents to close at $80.54 before the personnel moves were announced.