Recently, Reynolds American Inc. (RAI), in an attempt to solidify its management team and augment international growth, declared several changes at the executive level.
The company named Debra A. Crew as the new president and chief commercial officer of its subsidiary R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company effective Oct 1, 2014.
Crew, currently the president and general manager of PepsiCo North America Nutrition, will replace Andrew D. Gilchrist, who will be appointed as the executive vice president of Reynolds American effective the same day. Gilchrist, however, will also help Crew in his transition in the new role.
Crew, who also is currently inn the Pepsi board, has been the president of PepsiCo Inc's (PEP) Americas Beverage since 2012. She was also the general manager of grocery brands and U.S. pet-care products for Mars, Inc. She even served in the U.S. army for four years and rose to the rank of captain and military intelligence officer.
Reynolds expects Crew’s experience in America’s most popular consumer brands to help the company steer clear through the current headwind of depleting volume suffered in the past few quarters. Moreover, Gilchrist’s long experience in the tobacco industry will help Crew in her new role.
Reynolds has been exploring options to acquire its rival Lorillard Inc. (LO) since Mar 2014. In July, the owner of Camel brand cigarettes confirmed talks regarding the merger. The proposed merger is under surveillance of anti-trust authorities and is expected to close in the first half of fiscal 2015. (Read: Reynolds Confirms Talks Regarding Lorillard Acquisition)
Reynolds currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). A better-ranked stock in the tobacco sector worth considering is Vector Group Limited. (VGR) carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
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