US: Cadbury appoints Stahl to Dr Pepper board

Cadbury Schweppes has appointed four new members to the board of directors of Dr Pepper Snapple Group, its US beverages subsidiary, including the former Coca-Cola COO Jack Stahl. The other appointments are Terry Martin, Pamela Patsley and Anne Szostak.

DPSG is currently preparing to demerge from Cadbury Schweppes into a separately traded public entity.

The new members will be joined on the board by Wayne Sanders, the former chairman and CEO of Kimberly-Clark Corp. who was previously named as the company's incoming chairman, DPSG chief executive officer Larry Young and DPSG chief financial officer John Stewart.

Each of the directors will formally be named as board members once the company completes its separation from Cadbury Schweppes and begins trading on the New York Stock Exchange, currently planned for 7 May. Two additional non-executive members will be appointed to the DPSG Board at a later date, bringing the total number of directors to nine.

"I am extremely pleased that Dr Pepper Snapple Group has attracted such a distinguished group of highly qualified board members to help oversee its transition to an independent publicly traded company," Sanders said. "Their diverse backgrounds and relevant industry experience perfectly complement the talented management team DPSG already has in place, and will only accelerate the company's ambition to become an industry leader in each category in which it competes. I look forward to working alongside each of them and leveraging their extensive knowledge and capabilities as we begin writing the next chapter in the company's history."

Jack Stahl was 22 years at The Coca-Cola Company where he was CFO and senior vice president of the North America Group and senior vice president of the Americas Group before becoming president and COO. From 2002 to 2006 he was CEO and president of Revlon. Stahl is currently on the board of Schering-Plough Corporation.

Terry Martin has served as CFO of Quaker Oats Company. He retired in 2001 following the sale of Quaker Oats to PepsiCo. He is on the board of Del Monte, one of the country's largest food producers and distributors, where he is chairman of the audit committee.

Pamela Patsley was formerly CFO of First USA, Inc. She was senior executive vice president of First Data Corporation from 2000 to 2007 and president of First Data International from 2002 to 2007. She currently serves on the boards of Molson Coors Brewing Company and Texas Instruments, where she chairs the audit committee.

Anne Szostak is currently president and CEO of Szostak Partners. She is also a director at Belo Corporation, ChoicePoint, Inc., Spherion Corporation and Tupperware Brands Corporation.

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