Meldrum will succeed Ricardo Oberlander, who became president of Newport cigarette maker Reynolds American aft
er it was acquired by BAT in 2017 for $49 billion (37.43 billion pounds). (https://reut.rs/3kcleZH)

Meldrum's appointment is effective Sept. 1 2020. The U.S. unit is the biggest contributor to BAT's overall profits.

(Reporting by Siddharth Cavale in Bengaluru; Editing by Aditya Soni)