Brown-Forman Evolves Asia Pacific Structure

14 Oct 2013 --- Brown-Forman announced the restructuring of its Asia Pacific (APAC) region into two new regions, effective November 1, 2013. The existing Asia Pacific region will be restructured into the Australia, New Zealand, and Southeast Asia region (ANZSEA) and the North Asia region (NA). Michael McShane will serve as managing director, ANZSEA, based in Sydney, and Trevor Smith as managing director, NA, based in Hong Kong.

"The Asia Pacific area remains key to Brown-Forman's long-term growth strategy," said Mark McCallum, executive vice president, Europe/Africa/Asia Pacific/Travel Retail, Brown-Forman Corporation. "These changes are being made to further strengthen our organizational focus and allocation of resources against our strategic priorities in this vast region.”

McShane and Smith are long-standing Brown-Forman executives with considerable experience in the Asia Pacific arena.

McShane most recently served as senior vice president, managing director, Asia Pacific, based in Hong Kong. He has held a number of positions within Brown-Forman, including managing director, North Asia, and managing director, Australia. McShane also served as the chairman of the Distilled Spirits Industry Council of Australia and is an active participant in industry forums across the Asia Pacific region.

Smith most recently served as vice president, director, finance, Asia Pacific, based in Hong Kong, and as a key member of the APAC leadership team. Smith has held a number of leadership positions at Brown-Forman, including director of Internal Audit.

Marshall Farrer, current managing director of Australia, New Zealand, will return to the company’s Louisville, KY, headquarters later this year after four successful years at the helm of the company's second largest market as measured by net sales.

For more than 140 years, Brown-Forman Corporation has enriched the experience of life by responsibly building fine quality beverage alcohol brands, including Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Whiskey, Southern Comfort, Finlandia, Jack Daniel’s & Cola, Canadian Mist, Korbel, Gentleman Jack, el Jimador, Herradura, Sonoma-Cutrer, Chambord, New Mix, Tuaca, and Woodford Reserve. Brown-Forman’s brands are supported by nearly 4,000 employees and sold in approximately 160 countries worldwide. For more information about the company, please visit http://www.brown-forman.com/.