SABMiller announces senior management and organisational changes

LONDON, 11-4-2014 — /EuropaWire/ — SABMiller announces today a number of senior management and organisational changes that will become effective over the coming months:

• Norman Adami will stand down as Chairman of SABMiller Beverages South Africa with effect from 1 July 2014, and will be retiring from the group with effect from 31 July 2014.
• With effect from 1 July 2014, SABMiller’s South African and African regions will be consolidated into one region for management purposes, and Mark Bowman, currently Managing Director of SABMiller Africa, will become Managing Director of the enlarged SABMiller Africa region.
• Mauricio Leyva, currently the Managing Director of Beer South Africa, will become Chairman and Managing Director of SAB Ltd. in South Africa, reporting to Mark Bowman.
• John Ustas, the Managing Director of Amalgamated Beverage Industries, the Group’s South African soft drinks business, will also report to Mark Bowman.

Norman Adami has served the Group since 1979 and has been a member of the SABMiller Executive Committee for over 20 years. Beginning in 1994, he successfully led SAB Ltd as Managing Director for 9 years. In 2003, he moved to the newly acquired Miller Brewing Company as President and CEO, rebuilding that business, leading its turnaround, and creating a sustainable platform to enable Miller to compete in the US marketplace. From 2006 to 2007, Norman served as President of SABMiller Americas, which included Miller in the US and the group’s businesses in Latin America. Norman returned to SAB Ltd in 2008, where he continued the successful rebuilding and reinvigoration of the South African business in the face of substantial challenges. In January 2013, he was promoted to the new role of Chairman, SABMiller Beverages South Africa with effect from 7 January 2013, assuming overall strategic responsibility for SABMiller’s beverage businesses in South Africa.

Commenting on Norman’s retirement, Alan Clark, Chief Executive, said:

“Norman has made an enduring contribution to the SABMiller group over many years and in many roles, and his passion, commitment, and deep business insights will be sorely missed. He has been a stalwart of our business for 35 years, and on behalf of all of my colleagues and our shareholders, I would like to thank Norman for his support, friendship and inspirational leadership, both in South Africa and as a member of the SABMiller’s executive leadership team, and to wish him and his family every happiness on his retirement.”

Commenting on the management changes, Alan Clark added:

“I am very pleased to be able to appoint Mark to head our new Africa division. As we look to capitalise on our global scale and presence, we see significant advantages in managing all of our African businesses as one region. We believe there is strong potential for profitable growth in both beer and total beverages in Africa, and, by harnessing the skills of our South African and African business in a combined Africa region, we believe that we will be better placed to access growth prospects across the entire continent.

“Mark has been instrumental in developing SABMiller’s beer and soft drinks operations on the African continent over the past six years, with volumes growing from 25 million hectolitres in 2009 to 37 million hectolitres in 2013, and EBITA from US$ 562 million to US$ 838 million over the same period, and I believe he is the right person to lead the combined business, and to deliver the scale benefits and drive growth across our markets and brand portfolios in the region.

“Mauricio Leyva has done an excellent job in South Africa since his appointment last year, in very challenging economic conditions. His skills, leadership and track record make him a great choice to lead our South African business and I am confident that it will continue to thrive under his leadership.”

Mark Bowman was appointed Managing Director of SABMiller Africa in 2007. He has significant experience of both the beer and soft drinks businesses, having joined SABMiller’s beer division in 1993, and has held various senior positions in the group, including Managing Director of SABMiller’s Polish subsidiary Kompania Piwowarska S.A., Managing Director of Amalgamated Beverage Industries Ltd (now the soft drinks division of SAB Ltd) and Chairman of Appletiser. He is an independent non-executive director of Tiger Brands Limited (listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange).

Mauricio Leyva was appointed as Managing Director of SAB Ltd.’s beer division in South Africa in January 2013, having previously been the President of SABMiller’s business in Peru, Union de Cervecerias Peruanas Backus y Johnston S.A.A. (Backus) since October 2011. He has been with the SABMiller group since the merger with Grupo Empresarial Bavaria in 2005. He was Vice President of Marketing and Sales for Bavaria SA in Colombia before being appointed in March 2009 as President of Cerveceria Hondurena S.A., the group’s beer and soft drinks business in Honduras.

ENDS

Notes to editors

SABMiller
SABMiller plc is one of the world’s leading brewers with more than 200 beer brands and some 70,000 employees in over 75 countries.  The group’s portfolio includes global brands such as Pilsner Urquell, Peroni Nastro Azzurro, Miller Genuine Draft and Grolsch; as well as leading local brands such as Aguila (Colombia), Castle (South Africa), Miller Lite (USA), Snow (China), Victoria Bitter (Australia) and Tyskie (Poland).  SABMiller also has growing soft drinks businesses and is one of the world’s largest bottlers of Coca-Cola products.

In the year ended 31 March 2013 the group reported group lager volumes of 242m hectolitres, group revenue of US$34,487 million and group EBITA of US$6,421 million. SABMiller plc is listed on the London and Johannesburg stock exchanges.

www.sabmiller.com
www.facebook.com/sabmiller
www.twitter.com/sabmiller
www.youtube.com/sabmiller

Multi-media content

B-roll footage is available for download from our broadcast footage library

High resolution images are available for download from our media image library

Enquiries

SABMiller plc
t: +44 20 7659 0100

Catherine May
Director of Corporate Affairs
SABMiller plc
t: +44 20 7927 4709

Gary Leibowitz
SVP, Internal and Investor Engagement
SABMiller plc
t: +44 7717 428 540

Christina Mills
Director of Communications and Reputation
SABMiller plc
t: +44 20 7659 0105

Richard Farnsworth
Business Media Relations Manager
SABMiller plc
t: +44 20 7659 0188