Patrón president and CEO Ed Brown to step down

Bacardi has announced that Ed Brown, president and CEO of Patrón Spirits International, will retire at the end of the month after 20 years in the role.

Brown, who will continue to provide counsel and expert advice to the company post-retirement, will step down from his role on 31 December 2018.

Brown led the “massive expansion” of Patrón Tequila from 118,000 cases sold in 2001 to two million cases a year, establishing the brand as the world’s best-selling ultra-premium Tequila.

The announcement comes nine months after Grey Goose parent company Bacardi, which has owned a minority stake in Patrón since 2008, completed its acquisition of Patrón Spirits International in a deal that valued the Tequila maker US$5.1 billion.

According to Bacardi CEO Mahesh Madhavan, the firm is “well into a successful integration of Patrón”. The Tequila brand joined the likes of Bacardi rum, Bombay Sapphire gin, Dewar’s blended Scotch whisky and Martini vermouth in Bacardi’s portfolio.

“Ed has been a generous partner as we’ve worked hard to integrate our companies without missing a beat,” said Madhavan.

“We continue to be impressed with what he and his outstanding team have accomplished, and we are more excited than ever at the opportunity to build upon their success to grow Patrón, which so perfectly complements our portfolio of premium brands at Bacardi.”

Barry Kabalkin, vice chairman of Bacardi Limited and a member of the board of directors of Patrón since 2008, added: “It is only fitting that we should describe the career of the man who created the enduring tagline, ‘Simply Perfect’ as nothing short of that.

“On behalf of Bacardi and our newest colleagues from Patrón, I would like to offer Ed our heartfelt thanks for building one of the best brands in the spirits world and beyond. We wish Ed all the best on his well-deserved retirement.”

Dave Lawrence and Phil Gervasi also retired from the Tequila company this year following Bacardi’s acquisition.