Reynolds Board has Another BAT Representative Change; Robert Lerwill Resigns

Source from:  Winston-Salem Journal 06/17/2016

The turnover on Reynolds American Inc.'s board of directors continues with another of British American Tobacco Ltd.'s five representatives leaving.

Robert Lerwill notified Reynolds on Monday that he was resigning, effective immediately. The company listed personal reasons as the reason for his departure.

Lerwill, a retired chief executive of Aegis Group PLC, joined the board on July 15, replacing Sir Nicholas Scheele, who died in July 2014. Lerwill served on the BAT board from 2005 to 2013.
"It is up to BAT to nominate a replacement in due course," Reynolds spokeswoman Jane Seccombe said.

It is the sixth board change for Reynolds since December 2014. With Lerwill's departure, the company currently has 12 board members.

BAT gained its seats on the Reynolds board in July 2004 as part of a 42 percent ownership stake it acquired through Reynolds' $4.4 billion purchase of BAT's U.S. subsidiary Brown & Williamson Holdings Inc.

BAT representative Jerome Abelman joined the Reynolds board in February, replacing Jack Daly, who resigned after serving five years on the board.

In December, Richard Thornburgh resigned his seat, reducing the board at that time to 12 members.

Thornburgh had served as an independent director since December 2011.

As part of the June 12 completion of Reynolds' $29.25 billion purchase of Lorillard Inc., Murray Kessler shifted from Lorillard's chairman and chief executive to the Reynolds board. Legacy Lorillard shareholders own 15 percent of Reynolds.

In December 2014, Ricardo Oberlander, a management board director of BAT's Americas region, took the place of Neil Withington as a BAT board designee. Enditem