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NEW YORK - The president of Coca-Cola Co.'s marketing, strategy and innovation team, Mary Minnick, is leaving the company to pursue professional and personal goals in Britain, Coca-Cola said on Thursday.
In a memo sent to all employees, Chief Executive Neville Isdell said Minnick, who has worked at Coke for 23 years, will stay through the end of February. Isdell said succession plans would be announced at a later date.
The departure of Minnick, whose team was behind innovations such as the coffee-cola drink Coca-Cola Blak and sparkling green tea drink Enviga, is no surprise, according to John Sicher, publisher of industry newsletter Beverage Digest.
"Minnick has been developing a set of friends and personal life in the UK for some time, and many people thought she was likely to move over there," Sicher said.
"Secondly, some observers over the last few years thought she might be tapped as (chief operating officer), and when Muhtar Kent got that job (last month), that likely accelerated her decision to move to Great Britain," he added.
Minnick has led the marketing, strategy and innovation team since its inception in March 2005. Prior to that she was president of the Asia group, overseeing business operations in more than 40 countries.
In a research note, UBS analyst Kaumil Gajrawala guessed that Minnick's departure would not cause any short-term disruptions, but created more uncertainty in the long term pending the announcement of a successor.
"We view Minnick's departure negatively, given her role as a 'change agent' within Coca-Cola and her success building a diverse, high-growth portfolio in Asia, particularly in Japan," Gajrawala wrote.
"Separately, this also clears the path for recently appointed COO Muhtar Kent to become the next CEO of Coke," Gajrawala said.
"I think it is a situation where it's unfortunate," said JP Morgan analyst John Faucher. "But it's not really a huge surprise given the fact that she was considered one of the people heading for the (COO) role and she didn't get it."
- REUTERS
