After ongoing evaluation, the board also decided to split the roles of chairman and CEO, in line with best-practice trends in corporate governance. Thomas C. Wajnert has been elected nonexecutive [image-nocss] chairman of RAI's board, effective November 1, 2010. 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 Winston-Salem, N.C.-based Reynolds American 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 Corp. Brown & Williamson and R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. combined their U.S. businesses in 2004.
"My 30-year career in the tobacco industry, including 10 years in the CEO role, has been rewarding, challenging and fulfilling," Ivey said. "Daan Delen and I have worked together for many years, and have worked diligently over the last four years, in particular, to set the successful course on which RAI and its operating companies are now headed. I have every confidence that Daan, his leadership team and all our employees will continue to deliver terrific results."
Following Wajnert's assumption of the role of chairman November 1, Ivey will remain on the board and will continue in her role as president and CEO of RAI. On February 28, 2011, she will resign from those positions with the company and resign from the board.
Said Wajnert: "I want to thank and congratulate Susan on her long years of service to this company and this industry. Her 30 years of expertise in the industry added great insight to her role as chairman of the board. In keeping with best practices in corporate governance, however, the board determined that this is the appropriate time for the company to split the roles of chairman and chief executive. I look forward to working closely with Daan Delen, who also brings decades of domestic and international tobacco experience to his new role."
Delen, 44, is chairman, president and CEO of R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., the largest of RAI's operating companies. Before joining R.J. Reynolds in January 2007, he was the president of British American Tobacco Ltd. (BAT) Japan. He joined the BAT organization in 1989 and served in a number of capacities for the company in Guatemala, the United Kingdom, Singapore, Chile, Argentina and the United States.
"I look forward to taking on the CEO role of RAI, particularly at this time when the company has such a well-established strategic growth plan in place," Delen said. "Susan and I have worked closely to align the companies' businesses to position them for success, and it will be a great pleasure to continue to see those plans through. With the support of the extraordinary employees we have at RAI and its operating companies, I look forward to continuing our very successful trajectory."
Reynolds American is the parent company of R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co.; American Snuff Co. LLC; Santa Fe Natural Tobacco Co. Inc.; and Niconovum AB. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco is the second-largest U.S. tobacco company. Its brands include five of the 10 best-selling U.S. cigarettes: Camel, Pall Mall, Winston, Doral and Kool. American Snuff (formerly Conwood Co. LLC) is the nation's second-largest manufacturer of smokeless tobacco products. Its leading brands are Kodiak, Grizzly and Levi Garrett. It also sells and distributes a variety of tobacco products manufactured by Lane Ltd., including Winchester and Captain Black little cigars and Bugler roll-your-own tobacco. Santa Fe Natural Tobacco manufactures Natural American Spirit cigarettes and other additive-free tobacco products and manages and markets other super-premium brands. Niconovum AB markets nicotine replacement therapy products in Sweden and Denmark under the Zonnic brand.
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