British American Tobacco has announced that Ricardo Oberlander, who is currently the group's regional director for the Americas, will be appointed as the new president and CEO of Reynolds American.
Oberlander will replace Debra Crew, who has decided to leave BAT, effective 31 December 2017.
He, in turn, will be succeeded by Kingsley Wheaton, previously a managing director for next-generation products.
Integration Plans
“I am delighted that, with our focus on succession planning, we have two such strong candidates in our existing pipeline," said Nicandro Durante, chief executive of BAT.
"Ricardo has been with the BAT Group for nearly 30 years, on the management board since 2013, and was on the board of Reynolds for the last three years. He is ideally placed to lead our continued growth in the US and to complete the successful integration of the RAI businesses into the BAT Group."
BAT completed its acquisition of Reynolds American in July of this year, purchasing the remaining 57.8% stake in the company.
“This is a transformational deal," Durante said at the time. "We will take the best of the best from both businesses across all areas to create a stronger, more sustainable company."
© 2017 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Sarah Harford. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine.
