London, United Kingdom - December 18, 2013, London, United Kingdom - SABMiller plc, a multinational brewing and beverage company, sadly announces that chairman Graham Mackay died peacefully this morning. The board has appointed acting chairman John Manser as chairman, effective immediately.
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Graham Mackay spent his life creating one of the world’s most admired businesses, SABMiller plc. Born on 26 July, 1949, Mr. Graham was brought up in Swaziland, Natal and Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe). He graduated from the University of the Witwatersrand in 1972 with a BSc in Engineering and gained a Bcom from the University of South Africa in 1977.
Mr. Graham joined the South African Breweries Limited in 1978 and quickly ascended through the business, holding a number of senior positions in the group including his appointment as Executive Chairman of the beer business in South Africa in 1992.
He was appointed Group Managing Director in 1997 and Chief Executive of South African Breweries plc upon its listing on the London Stock Exchange in 1999. In July 2012 he was appointed Executive Chairman of SABMiller plc, becoming non-executive Chairman in April 2013.
Mr. Graham led SABMiller’s rapid global expansion and was instrumental in several path-breaking initiatives including the acquisition of Miller Brewing Company in the USA, 2002, and subsequent re-naming of the business as SABMiller plc; the acquisition of Bavaria in Latin America, 2005; formation of the MillerCoors joint venture between SABMiller and Molson Coors in the USA, 2008; and the acquisition of Foster’s in Australia, 2011.
Under his leadership SABMiller made rapid inroads across Africa, Asia, Australasia, Europe, Latin America and the United States. The business also successfully integrated beer and soft drinks operations in many parts of the world through bottling contracts with The Coca Cola Company as well as its own proprietary brands.
In addition to his responsibilities at SABMiller, Mr. Graham held a number of external directorships, including positions on the Boards of Reckitt Benckiser Group plc, where he was latterly Senior Independent Non-executive Director, and Philip Morris International Inc.
SABMiller has appointed acting chairman John Manser as chairman.
Mr. Manser joined the board in 2001, was appointed Senior Independent Director in July 2010 and became Deputy Chairman in 2012. He is a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants and was, until his retirement in February 2013, Chairman of Shaftesbury plc.
He has formerly held a number of senior positions, both in listed companies and the financial services industry, including Chairman of Robert Fleming Holdings and Chairman of the London Investment Banking Association. He is currently the Chairman of Trustees for Marlborough College and is Deputy Chairman of the College Council. He has assumed the role of acting Chairman while Mr. Mackay is on medical leave of absence.
SABMiller has appointed Guy Elliott as Senior Independent Director in succession to Mr. Manser.
Mr. Elliott joined the board on 1 July 2013. He is a senior executive director of Rio Tinto plc and Rio Tinto Limited and served as Chief Financial Officer from 2002 until April 2013. He has been a non-executive director of Royal Dutch Shell plc since 2010 and the chairman of its audit committee since May 2011. He has been on the UK Takeover Panel since 2012 and in February 2014 will become Chairman of the Panel's Code Committee. ■