UPDATE: Bank of America Merrill Lynch Approves of New Avon CEO

In a company update released earlier today, Bank of America Merrill Lynch said that they agree with the decision by Avon Products, Inc. (NYSE: AVP) to hire Sherilyn McCoy as the company's new CEO.

In the report, BofA Merrill Lynch went on to say “Following Coty's [Avon's rival beauty products company Coty, Inc.] unsolicited indication of interest in Avon announced last week, we had expected it to be more difficult for Avon to land a candidate – obviously misplaced concerns in retrospect. This move improves Avon's ability to present an alternative to being bought.”

Avon Products, Inc. closed on Thursday at $23.42.