Molson Coors Beverage Co. president and CEO Gavin Hattersley plans to leave the US beer major by the end the year.
Hattersley, who has headed the Carling brewer since 2019 will leave both the business and its board by 31 December, a group statement said today (14 April).
Go deeper with GlobalData
Molson Coors said it was starting a search for a new CEO, with internal and external applicants being considered for the post.
The next chief executive will be required “to build on” Hattersley’s so-called revitalisation and acceleration plans, through which Molson Coors is looking to continue to “strengthen” its “core brands”, “premiumise” the portfolio and “expand beyond beer”.
Board chair Geoff Molson said: “Gavin has been a steady hand at the wheel as CEO, navigating through incredible challenges that no one could ever have predicted while guiding our company to growth, strengthening our foundation, and setting us up for an even brighter future to come.
“Our business today stands on the shoulders of the many generations of the Molson and Coors families who have come before us. Gavin has lived up to their rich legacy, and he will retire having left an indelible mark on our business and the global beer industry.”
Hattersley has worked in the beer industry for almost three decades, entering the sector in 1997 at South African Breweries. He also held leadership positions at SABMiller, MillerCoors and Molson Coors.
While working for the Coors Light producer, he was “heavily involved” in developing the MillerCoors US joint venture in 2008 with SABMiller, Molson Coors said, acting as the first CFO of the business and later becoming CEO.
The Madri owner bought SABMiller’s stake in the JV in 2015 or $12bn.
In its statement, the company said it achieved “its two highest years of annual net sales revenue and its two highest years of underlying income before income taxes”, in the six years Hattersley was at the helm. It said it had also reduced its net debt by 40% in the period.
Under Hattersley, Molson Coors has looked to broaden the range of it drinks it owns and reshaped its existing beer business. At the start of 2020, the company changed its name from Molson Coors Brewing Company to Molson Coors Beverage Company.
The group ventured out into categories, including hard seltzers, spirits and energy drinks. In 2023, Molson Coors snapped up US distiller Blue Run Spirits. Last November, it bought a majority stake in US energy-drinks business Zoa Energy, a firm in which it had first invested in 2021.
Earlier this year, the company acquired a minority stake in UK mixers and tonics business Fevertree.
Not all of the moves into new product areas paid off. In 2022, the company left the ready-to-drink coffee and CBD beverage categories in the US after brief forays.
Last year, meanwhile, saw Molson Coors sell four US breweries to Tilray Brands and close two others in Wisconsin.
In Molson Coors’ full-year results for its fiscal 2024, the group saw net sales stay relatively flat, dipping 0.6% to $11.62bn.
In a message to employees, Hattersley said: “We have accomplished so much over the past six years and one thing I’m certain of is that none of it would have been possible without each of the 16,000 people across our business.”
