The promotion of Alexis Perakis-Valat to Head of L’Oréal’s Consumer Products Division has ignited the race to succeed Jean-Paul Agon as CEO of the French beauty giant, according to a report published by Bloomberg.

Nicolas Hieronimus, who has headed up the Luxury and Active Cosmetics divisions since 2013, has long been considered to be first in line for the top job.

But when Perakis-Valat takes over the company’s largest unit in September, after serving as CEO of the Chinese division and Executive Vice President of the Asia Pacific zone for the last three years, analysts are predicting that his name will be placed firmly in the hat should Agon’s current mandate, which expires in 2018, not be renewed.