The board of directors of MillerCoors LLC named Gavin Hattersley chief executive officer effective immediately. Hattersley, 52, has served as interim CEO since July 1, following former CEO Tom Long’s retirement on June 30.
In addition to his role as interim CEO, Hattersley served as chief financial officer of Denver-based Molson Coors Brewing Co. Molson Coors and SABMiller Plc are parent companies of Chicago-based MillerCoors, which brews much of its beer in Milwaukee.
“Gavin is the right person to lead MillerCoors forward,” said Pete Coors, chairman of the MillerCoors board of directors and vice chairman of Molson Coors. “Gavin has a great handle on what needs to be done to achieve growth at MillerCoors and he has the complete confidence of the board, the employees and the distributor network to achieve this aspiration.”
Hattersley is the third CEO of the MillerCoors joint venture, following Long and Leo Kiely. Molson Coors has begun the process of identifying Hattersley’s successor as CFO. Hattersley will remain in a dual capacity as MillerCoors CEO and CFO of Molson Coors until mid-November.
“I am humbled and honored to lead MillerCoors forward,” Hattersley said. “The passion and energy that our employees and distributors have for growing this business is awesome. We have a lot of work to do to meet our ambitious goals, but we have the people, brands and firepower to do it. My job is to galvanize and focus our collective efforts and inspire the company to take smart risks, execute the right ideas and, ultimately, grow our total volume and shareholder value.”
Hattersley previously served as executive vice president and CFO for MillerCoors and senior vice president of finance for Miller Brewing Company. He came to Miller from SAB Limited in Johannesburg, South Africa, where he held several financial management positions before becoming CFO in 1999. Prior to joining SAB Limited, he spent almost 10 years at Barloworld Ltd.
