MillerCoors appoints Tom Long to CEO duties

MillerCoors appoints Tom Long to CEO duties

MillerCoors LLC's No. 2 executive, Tom Long, will be sharing some of the duties of Chief Executive Leo Kiely, in the latest sign that the company is grooming Mr. Long to lead the second-largest U.S. beer maker by sales.

Mr. Kiely told staff in a memorandum Thursday evening that he will combine offices with Mr. Long, who is president and chief commercial officer, and "will be sharing more day-to-day responsibility with Tom." Mr. Kiely said Mr. Long, 51 years old, will continue to oversee commercial operations, but "will be further charged with driving our growth strategy."

MillerCoors, which brews Coors Light and Blue Moon, is a joint U.S. venture of London's SABMiller PLC and Molson Coors Brewing Co. of Denver and Montreal. The company, formed in 2008, has said that Mr. Kiely, 63 years old, may retire in 2011 under the terms of his employment agreement.

Mr. Long, who has been in the beer industry for about five years after working for Coca-Cola Co., has helped MillerCoors boost revenue and profit despite lackluster sales volumes for brands such as Miller Lite. The company controls about 30% of U.S. beer sales, ranking behind Anheuser-Busch InBev NV, which has a roughly 49% market share.

MillerCoors also expanded duties for several other executives, including Chief Marketing Officer Andy England. He gained the additional title of executive vice president, adding communications, government affairs and business strategy to his responsibilities.

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