
Knauss Leaves Coca-Cola For Clorox
Donald Knauss has left his post as president of Coca-Cola North America to become the new chief executive officer at Clorox. He will be replaced by J. Alexander M. “Sandy” Douglas Jr., senior vice president and chief customer officer.
Neville Isdell, chairman and chief executive officer
at Coca-Cola commented on the change, saying: “Sandy brings to his
new role a deep understanding of our North American business and
well-established relationships with our bottlers and key customers. He is
uniquely positioned to build on the stable foundation we have established
in North America.”
New bottling ventures
The Coca-Cola Co. also
recently announced an agreement that would give it a controlling interest
in the Philadelphia Coca-Cola Bottling Co. The companies say the deal was
initiated by industry veteran Bruce Llewellyn, chief executive officer at
Philadelphia Coca-Cola Bottling Co.
“Twenty-three years
ago, I became a part of the Coca-Cola family and it has been a privilege to
build the Philadelphia Coca-Cola Bottling Co. into the successful business
it has become,” Llewellyn said in a statement. “I have now come
full circle and I have asked the Coca-Cola Co. to consider stewarding the
Philadelphia Coca-Cola Bottling Co. into the future.”
If approved, the transfer of ownership is expected to
occur no later than 2009.
Coca-Cola also has acquired a controlling share in
Kerry Beverages Ltd., its bottling joint venture with the Kerry Group in
Hong Kong. KBL was formed by Coca-Cola and the Kerry Group in 1993, and has
majority ownership in 11 joint ventures across nine provinces in China. KBL
also has a minority interest in the joint
venture bottler for Beijing.
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