These operational changes will entail the following executive transfers:

·         Paul Duffy, currently chairman & CEO of the Absolut Company and a member of the COMEX, is appointed chairman & CEO of Pernod Ricard North America and CEO of Pernod Ricard USA. Philippe Dréano, the current chairman & CEO of Pernod Ricard Americas, is retiring after a career spanning 27 years with the group. Bryan Fry, currently managing director, Pernod Ricard USA, is appointed managing director, Pernod Ricard Pacific and will report to the chairman and CEO of Pernod Ricard Winemakers. He replaces Julien Hémard whose new appointment will be announced shortly.

·         Anna Malmhake, currently chairman & CEO of Irish Distillers and a member of the COMEX, is appointed chairman & CEO of The Absolut Company.

·         Jean-Christophe Coutures, currently chairman & CEO of Pernod Ricard Winemakers and a member of the COMEX, is appointed chairman & CEO of Irish Distillers.

·         Bruno Rain, currently managing director in charge of group Hhuman resources & corporate social responsibility and a member of the COMEX, is appointed chairman & CEO of Pernod Ricard Winemakers.

·         Cédric Ramat, currently VP human resources for Pernod Ricard Americas, is appointed Hhuman resources and corporate social responsibility director and will become a member of the COMEX.

·         Mohit Lal, currently managing director of Pernod Ricard Travel Retail Asia, is appointed chairman & CEO of Pernod Ricard Global Travel Retail in addition to holding his current position, and will become a member of the COMEX.

The two new management entities will be led by:

-         Noël Adrian, managing director of Pernod Ricard Mexico;

-         Thibault Cuny, managing director of Pernod Ricard Brazil.

Pernod commented that following these changes, the group’s executive committee will now include members of five nationalities.

Ricard said: “A company's success depends above all on the women and men who bring it to life. Our group’s strength comes from these talents of diverse origins and backgrounds and our principle of global mobility, as illustrated by these organszational changes. In this spirit, I would like to pay tribute to Philippe Dréano for his unfailing commitment to our group’s development over the last 30 years”.