PepsiCo woos former Sam's Club CEO Cornell -report

Feb 3 (Reuters) - PepsiCo Inc. is trying to recruit former Sam's Club chief executive Brian Cornell for a leading position with the company, according to a Bloomberg report.

The position would report directly to Chief Executive Officer Indra Nooyi and would be equivalent in status to a division CEO, Bloomberg said on Friday, citing two people familiar with the discussions.

Attempts to hire Cornell might not be successful, however, Bloomberg said, and it cited one of the people as saying that other companies were also trying to recruit Cornell.

Pepsi was not immediately available for comment.

Cornell, 52, who ran Wal-Mart's Sam's Club warehouse retail chain, recently told Bentonville, Arkansas-based Wal-Mart that he and his wife want to move back to the Northeast to be closer to their children.

Pepsi is based in Purchase, New York.

Cornell has a history with Pepsi, where he headed the company's North America's Food services division in 2003 and 2004 and before that served as regional president for Pepsi's European and African beverage business.