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Excel Communications Goes for Gold in Its Corner Office Former Avon direct-marketing whiz Christina Gold is brought in to turn around the $1.3 billion company With its stock languishing and competition in long-distance telephone service growing cutthroat, Quebec-based telecom operator Teleglobe Inc. has turned to former Avon North America President Christina A. Gold for a direct-marketing makeover. On Sept. 14, Gold was named CEO of Teleglobe's Excel Communications multilevel marketing unit, a $1.3 billion-a-year Dallas-based operation. One of BUSINESS WEEK's Top 25 managers of the year for 1996, Gold was widely credited for masterminding a turnaround at Avon. But she was passed over for chief executive of the cosmetics-marketing company the following year, and she left to form her own consulting firm. Her specialty: direct marketing. The 52-year-old executive may find her new post especially challenging. Parent Teleglobe's stock has slid from nearly $41 in January, just a couple months after it took over Excel, to under $19 now. And price-cutting for long-distance service is getting brutal, with Excel recently announcing a 3-cent-a-minute plan for nighttime calls. GROWTH GOALS. Gold, who's likely to take some time to scope out her new employer, says growth will be her prime goal -- both on the bottom and top lines. She wants to focus especially on building the company's operations overseas. "We want to make sure we're maximizing our opportunities," she said in a Sept. 15 conference call with reporters. "We want to make sure we're world-class in all key financial indicators." She'll have plenty of help. While handing over the day-to-day reins to her, Excel founder Kenny A. Troutt plans to keep the chairman's post. Troutt also will continue as vice-chairman of Teleglobe and remain Teleglobe's single largest shareholder. Troutt says he'll be free to go out and work more closely with Excel's marketing representatives. By Joseph Weber in Toronto
EDITED BY DOUGLAS HARBRECHT
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