SABMiller : Hüseyin M. Akin appointed CEO of Coca-Cola Beverages Africa

Johannesburg, South Africa, 12 December 2014 - SABMiller plc (LSE:SAB, JSE:SABJ), Gutsche Family Investments ('GFI', majority shareholders in Coca-Cola Sabco) and The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE:KO) have named Hüseyin M. Akin as Chief Executive Officer designate of Coca-Cola Beverages Africa.  

Hüseyin Akin currently serves as Deputy CEO of the Beverage Group (comprising beer and soft drinks operations) of Anadolu Efes and is the Chairman of Coca-Cola Içecek's (CCI) subsidiary boards. From 1 March 2015, he will lead the strategic and integration planning for the new bottler which will serve 12 high-growth countries in Southern and East Africa and account for approximately 40% of all Coca-Cola beverage volumes in Africa. He will take up his role as CEO of Coca-Cola Beverages Africa after its establishment, subject to requisite regulatory approvals*.

Phil Gutsche, Chairman-elect of Coca-Cola Beverages Africa, said: "We are extremely pleased that Coca-Cola Beverages Africa will benefit from Hüseyin's strength of leadership, experience and expertise, gained from over 25 years in the Coca-Cola system.  I have every confidence that Hüseyin will add significant value in ensuring this new African bottler achieves its tremendous growth potential."

Hüseyin M. Akin, said: "This is a very exciting opportunity to lead the world's newest Coca-Cola bottler. As the continent's largest bottler, Coca-Cola Beverages Africa has a generations-long growth opportunity ahead of it. The next few years will be critical as we merge and integrate the new business, in readiness to deliver its full potential."  

Prior to his current role, Akin held the position of President, International Operations for CCI, as well as General Manager for CCI Turkey.  He is an Electrical Engineering and Computer Science graduate of Princeton University and also holds an MBA in Marketing and Finance from the Graduate School of Business, University of Chicago.

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Christina Mills
Director, Group Communications and Reputation
Tel: +44 7825 275 605

Richard Farnsworth
Business Media Relations Manager
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Robyn Chalmers (South African Breweries)
Head: Media and Communications 
Tel: +27 11 881 8679

Dan Baxter
Group Communications Director
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Vukani Magubane
Public Affairs and Communications Director
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Cathy Albertyn
Group Human Resources Director
Tel: +27 41 395 4078

SABMiller plc is in the beer and soft drinks business. We are the world's second largest brewing company and are one of the world's largest bottlers of Coca-Cola drinks. We also produce a portfolio of wholly-owned soft drinks brands. We are a FTSE-20 company, with shares trading on the London Stock Exchange, and we have a secondary listing on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. We operate in more than 80 countries with around 70,000 employees. 

The group's brand portfolio includes leading local brands such as Aguila (Colombia), Castle (South Africa), Miller Lite (USA), Snow (China), Victoria Bitter (Australia) and Tyskie (Poland) as well as global brands such as Pilsner Urquell, Peroni Nastro Azzurro, Miller Genuine Draft and Grolsch. Every minute of every day, more than 140,000 bottles of SABMiller beer are sold.

In the year ended 31 March 2014, the group sold 318 million hectolitres of lager, soft drinks and other alcoholic beverages, generating group net producer revenue of US$26,719 million and EBITA of US$6,453 million.

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Coca-Cola Sabco is 80% owned by Gutsche Family Investments and its headquarters are in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. Coca-Cola Sabco has been a Coca-Cola bottler since 1940, having grown to be Africa's second largest Coca-Cola Franchised Bottler. In 1995, the Gutsche family merged their bottling interests with The Coca-Cola Company's interest in Africa in order to expand and further develop Coca-Cola Sabco's beverage interests in Africa. Coca-Cola Sabco employs approximately 8,000 staff across its bottling operations in South Africa, Namibia, Mozambique, Kenya, Tanzania, Ethiopia and Uganda.

The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE: KO) is the world's largest beverage company, refreshing consumers with more than 500 sparkling and still brands. Led by Coca-Cola, one of the world's most valuable and recognizable brands, our Company's portfolio features 17 billion-dollar brands including Diet Coke, Fanta, Sprite, Coca-Cola Zero, vitaminwater, Powerade, Minute Maid, Simply, Georgia and Del Valle. Globally, we are the No. 1 provider of sparkling beverages, ready-to-drink coffees, and juices and juice drinks. Through the world's largest beverage distribution system, consumers in more than 200 countries enjoy our beverages at a rate of 1.9 billion servings a day. With an enduring commitment to building sustainable communities, our Company is focused on initiatives that reduce our environmental footprint, support active, healthy living, create a safe, inclusive work environment for our associates, and enhance the economic development of the communities where we operate. Together with our bottling partners, we rank among the world's top 10 private employers with more than 700,000 system associates.www.coca‑colacompany.com, follow us on Twitter at twitter.com/CocaColaCo, visit our blog, Coca-Cola Unbottled, at www.coca-colablog.com or find us on LinkedIn at www.linkedin.com/company/the-coca-cola-company.