Bacardi has announced that Ed Brown, president and CEO of its Patrón tequila brand, will retire as of 31 December 2018.
During his nearly 20-year tenure, Brown led the Patrón brand’s expansion, growing from 118,000 cases sold in 2001 to more than 2 million cases sold annually.
Bacardi bought the brand earlier this year for $5.1 billion, having previously acquired a significant majority stake.
Barry Kabalkin, vice chairman of Bacardi and a member of the board of directors of Patrón since 2008, said: “It is only fitting that we should describe the career of the man who created the enduring tagline, ‘simply perfect’ as nothing short of that.
“On behalf of Bacardi and our newest colleagues from Patrón, I would like to offer Ed our heartfelt thanks for building one of the best brands in the spirits world and beyond. We wish Ed all the best on his well-deserved retirement.”
According to Bacardi CEO Mahesh Madhavan, the Bermuda-headquartered company is well into a successful integration of Patrón.
“Ed has been a generous partner as we’ve worked hard to integrate our companies without missing a beat,” said Madhavan. “We continue to be impressed with what he and his outstanding team have accomplished, and we are more excited than ever at the opportunity to build upon their success to grow Patrón, which so perfectly complements our portfolio of premium brands at Bacardi.”
Bacardi said that Brown intends to remain engaged in the company post-retirement, providing advice on the Patrón brand, the tequila category and the spirits industry as a whole.
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