Sept. 08--It's official: Gavin Hattersley is the new CEO of Chicago-based MillerCoors after working the job in an interim capacity since July 1.
Hattersley, 52, is the third CEO at MillerCoors, a joint venture between Molson Coors and SABMiller since 2008, according to a MillerCoors news release. In a letter to distributors Tuesday, Peter Coors, chairman of MolsonCoors and MillerCoors, touted Hattersley's experience in the industry and willingness to make tough decisions.
"Gavin is an outstanding, trusted leader with unique qualifications for the CEO position and we are delighted to confirm his appointment as CEO," Coors wrote. "In his short term as interim CEO, Gavin's strength of leadership and willingness to make bold decisions have been well received by our people, our distributors and our investors, demonstrating why he was the stand-out choice to lead the business."
Since former MillerCoors CEO Tom Long retired at the end of June, Hattersley has been working two jobs -- interim MillerCoors CEO and chief financial officer for MolsonCoors.
That will end by mid-November as MolsonCoors has begun to look for Hattersley's replacement. Hattersley and his wife will move to Chicago from Denver, where MolsonCoors is based.
"I think he's going to be a great leader," said Jon Jahnke, general manager for Town and Country Distributors, which distributes alcohol to restaurants, taverns and retailers in northwest Chicago and the suburbs.
Jahnke said Hattersley has clearly communicated three initiatives in his early tenure -- growing market shares of American light lager, boosting on-premise sales and ensuring continued investments are worthwhile.
Those initiatives are "rather basic," Jahnke said, but still represent a step in the right direction. Distributors will get a better sense of Hattersley leadership next month in Las Vegas at the annual distributor meeting.
"Gavin hasn't really taken the national stage yet and he's about to," Jahnke said.
In the second quarter, MillerCoors reported sales of about $2.2 billion, flat from the same period a year ago. Profits rose 9.3 percent to $487.2 million.
gtrotter@tribpub.com
