SABMiller has announced that its chairman Graham Mackay died this morning.
Acting chairman John Manser has been appointed chairman with immediate effect.
Manser said: “Our thoughts and prayers are with Graham’s wife and family. Graham was one of the most inspirational and successful leaders in international business by any measure. Everyone in the SABMiller family has been blessed by his vision, his loyalty, and his friendship during his 35 years with the group. He will be deeply missed.
“The board has every confidence that under Alan Clark’s leadership, we will continue to build on Graham’s legacy, and fulfil his vision to make SABMiller the most admired company in the global beer industry.”
Guy Elliott has been appointed as senior independent director in succession to Manser.
SABMiller said the board will make a further announcement in due course about the appointment of a chairman to succeed Manser for the longer term. However, it’s expected that to “facilitate succession planning and to allow an appropriate period of familiarisation and handover”, Manser will defer his previously expected retirement date for approximately one year to July 2015.
