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SAO PAULO, Jan 20 (Reuters) - Brazilian retailer Lojas Renner SA announced late on Thursday that its board approved former Unilever executive Daniel Martins dos Santos as the new company chief financial officer, and unveiled a new share buyback program.

The executive will hold the position of CFO and investor relations officer starting Jan. 24, the company said in a securities filing. Martins dos Santos is a former financial vice president at Unilever Switzerland and former CFO at Unilever Spain.

The role had been occupied by an interim director since November, when the previous CFO, Alvaro Jorge Fontes de Azevedo, resigned.

Lojas Renner also announced a buyback program of 18 million common shares, which is equivalent to 1.82% of the shares in circulation on the Sao Paulo stock exchange, and has an 18-month deadline.

(Reporting by Peter Frontini Editing by Chris Reese)