Change to RAI’s board as BAT nominee retires

Neil R. Withington is due to retire from Reynolds American Inc’s board of directors, effective immediately after its meeting on December 4, according to a note posted on the company’s website yesterday.
It was announced yesterday that Withington would retire, effective April 30, from British American Tobacco’s management board and leave the group, where he has been director, legal and security, and group general counsel since August 2000.
Withington, has been a member of the RAI board since July 2004, serving as one of the five board members designated by Brown & Williamson Holdings, a subsidiary of BAT, under the terms of the 2004 governance agreement between RAI, B&W and BAT.
BAT, through its B&W subsidiary, is RAI’s largest shareholder, with an ownership interest of about 42 percent.
B&W has designated Ricardo Oberlander, a management board director of BAT, Americas Region, as the nominee to succeed Withington on RAI’s board.