Delen to Take Over at RAI

Source from:  Tobacco Reporter 10/19/2010

Susan M. Ivey, currently chairman, president and CEO of Reynolds American Inc, is to retire on February 28 and the RAI board of directors has decided to split the roles of chairman of the board and CEO. The board of directors has elected Daniel (Daan) M. Delen, who is currently chairman, president and CEO of R.J. Reynolds Tobacco, to be president- and CEO-elect of RAI, and a member of the board of directors, effective January 1. At the same time, the board has elected Thomas C. Wajnert non-executive chairman of RAI’s board, effective November 1. Following Wajnert’s assumption of the role of chairman of the board at the start of November, Ivey will remain on the board and will continue in her role as president and CEO of RAI until the end of February when she will resign from those positions with the company and resign from the board. Before joining R.J. Reynolds in January 2007, Delen was the president of British American Tobacco Ltd – Japan. He joined the BAT organization in 1989 and served in a number of capacities for the company in Guatemala, the UK, Singapore, Chile, Argentina and the US. Wajnert has served as the board’s lead director since 2008, serves as the chair of the board’s compensation and leadership development committee, and is a member of the corporate governance and nominating committee. He chaired the board’s audit and finance committee from 2004 to 2009. Ivey, 51, has been chairman, president and CEO of RAI since 2006. She served as RAI’s president and CEO and a member of the board of directors between 2004 and 2006. From 2001 to 2004, Ivey was president and CEO of Brown & Williamson Tobacco. Brown & Williamson and R.J. Reynolds Tobacco combined their US businesses in 2004. Meanwhile, the board has approved an 8.9 per cent increase in the company’s quarterly dividend and a two-for-one split of the company’s stock. Enditem