Meralco COO named new Pepsi chairman

MANILA, Philippines—Pepsi-Cola Products Philippines Inc. has named energy industry veteran Oscar Reyes, concurrently the chief operating officer of Manila Electric Co., as its new chairman as part of a crucial management revamp.

On the other hand, No Yeon-Suk, a 20-year veteran in the South Korea-based Lotte Group and erstwhile PCPPI executive vice president and chief strategy officer, was named chief executive officer.

In a press statement on Tuesday, PCPPI said these two top appointees were “seen to inject fresh dynamism to the management team and make it more responsive to new challenges in the economic climate both here and abroad.”

The two new officials filled up the positions vacated by the retirement of former PCPPI chairman and CEO Hwang Chung.

Reyes is no stranger to the Pepsi family, having been an independent director of PCPPI since 2008.

The Pepsi statement said Reyes “has shown the full range of his managerial acumen as chairman and president of Pilipinas Shell Corp. for several years,” noting his chairmanship and other key positions in a number of large companies in various sectors, notably telecommunications, banking, insurance, and water distribution. Reyes will keep his post in Meralco.

Reyes graduated cum laude in economics at the Ateneo de Manila University and attended Harvard Business School’s management program in the United States of America.

In October 2010, Lotte acquired 34 percent of PCPPI to become its single largest shareholder and gain management control. PepsiCo International is the second major shareholder with 30 percent.

Lotte Chilsung Beverage Co., an industry leader in South Korea, has also been the distributor of PepsiCo’s products in that country for more than 30 years now.

Publicly listed PCPPI, which operates 11 bottling plants in the Philippines, manufactures and sells global brands as Pepsi-Cola, Mountain Dew, Seven Up, Mirinda, Mug Root Beer, Gatorade, Propel, Lipton Iced Tea, Tropicana, Premier bottled water and Milkis milk.