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EXECUTIVE CHANGES

Anheuser-Busch Fills Board SeatCos. here has named William Porter "Billy" Payne, the vice chairman of NationsBank, to a seat on its board.Payne's nomination will be voted on at Anheuser-Busch's annual meeting on April 23 in Houston. He succeeds Andrew B. Craig III, chairman of NationsBank, whose term on the board expires in April.Payne, 49, joined Charlotte, N.C.-based NationsBank earlier this year

Anheuser-Busch Fills Board Seat

Cos. here has named William Porter "Billy" Payne, the vice chairman of NationsBank, to a seat on its board.

Payne's nomination will be voted on at Anheuser-Busch's annual meeting on April 23 in Houston. He succeeds Andrew B. Craig III, chairman of NationsBank, whose term on the board expires in April.

Payne, 49, joined Charlotte, N.C.-based NationsBank earlier this year after serving as president and chief executive officer of the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games, where he directed the activities to plan and present the 1996 Summer Olympic Games.

Seagram Names Finance VP

NEW YORK -- The Seagram Beverage Co. here has named Carl F. Thorsberg to the new position of vice president for finance and administration.

Thorsberg is responsible for developing overall financial strategy and objectives and for providing guidance to individual regions in meeting their financial targets. Most recently, he was director of finance and sales administration for Tropicana Dole Beverages North America, a Seagram subsidiary.

Thorsberg reports to Stephen Fisher, president of Seagram Beverage Co.

The company's brands include Seagram's Coolers, Seagram's mixers and Devil Mountain beer. It is also the exclusive U.S. distributor and marketer of Grolsch beer.

Brooklyn Bottling Taps Sales Exec

BROOKLYN, N.Y. -- Brooklyn Bottling Corp. here has named Joseph M. Cranna Jr. to the new position of Northeast regional sales manager.

Cranna will have overall responsibility for expanding sales and distribution of the company's line of juices, juice cocktails, iced teas and sodas in the six-state New England area.

Cranna has more than 30 years of beverage industry experience, including work at Coca-Cola Bottling Co. of New York, Premium Beverages, Apple & Eve and Soho Beverages. His most recent position was with MetBev, where he instituted Manhattan distribution.

Cranna will expand the distribution of several brands in New England, such as Squeez'r juices and juice cocktails, Ice Bree'z gourmet sodas and iced teas and Tropical Fantasy sodas and nonalcoholic cocktails. The distribution of several sodas from Latin America and Caribbean nations -- to which Brooklyn Bottling has the U.S. bottling and distribution rights -- will also be expanded.

To facilitate its growth in New England, the company also appointed Pezrow as its exclusive broker in the New York/New England region for its Nature's Own and Apple Dandy apple juices, as well as its private-label brands.