SABMiller announces new president of Colombia operations

SABMiller plc announces that Richard Rushton, the current President of its Central American operations, has been appointed as President of Bavaria SA in Colombia. Rushton replaces the current President, Karl Lippert, who was recently appointed to succeed Barry Smith as President of SABMiller’s Latin American division. Rushton will take over on 1 January 2011 and will report to the President of SABMiller Latin America.

Rushton joined SABMiller in 1997, and has been President of its Central American operations for the past 15 months. Prior to that, he spent three years in Ecuador, as President of Cervecería Nacional, and five years in India, as Managing Director of SABMiller’s business there. Rushton (47) is a South African national, but has become fluent in Spanish during his time in Latin America.

Commenting on this appointment, Barry Smith said:

“SABMiller is fortunate to be able to appoint an executive of the calibre of Richard Rushton to this very important position within the SABMiller group. Rushton has extensive experience in managerial positions in SABMiller operations in Africa, India, Ecuador and, more recently, Central America, and has the competencies and skills that are ideally suited for the position of President of Bavaria.”

As a consequence of this appointment, the position of President for Central America will be eliminated, and the Presidents of the SABMiller operations in Ecuador, Panama, El Salvador and Honduras will therefore report directly to the President for SABMiller Latin America as of 1 January 2011.