FEMSA Announces Key Management Changes

MONTERREY, Mexico, October 28 /PRNewswire/ -- Fomento Economico Mexicano, S.A. de C.V. ("FEMSA") (NYSE: FMX) today announced key management changes at FEMSA and FEMSA Cerveza, to become effective in January 2006.

-- Jorge Luis Ramos becomes CEO of FEMSA Cerveza. -- Javier Astaburuaga becomes FEMSA's CFO as Vice President of Finance and Strategic Development. -- Federico Reyes will head FEMSA's Corporate Development efforts.

Jose Antonio Fernandez, Chairman and CEO of FEMSA, commented:

"As FEMSA continues to evolve and grow into one of the world's leading beverage companies, our management structures and our team must evolve as well, and talent must be constantly deployed so as to maximize the potential for the sustained creation of value. With this objective in mind, the following management changes will take place:

Jorge Luis Ramos, currently co-CEO of FEMSA Cerveza in charge of sales and commercial activity nationwide, will become CEO. Jorge Luis has been instrumental in developing and deploying the business capabilities that are allowing us to succeed in the Mexican beer industry under new rules, with a clear focus on the consumer and on the excellent management of complexity in our go-to-market strategy. As we continue to grow our business profitably, Jorge Luis brings skillful continuity to the evolutionary processes that have transformed FEMSA Cerveza in recent years.

Supporting Jorge Luis as Commercial Director will be Arturo Barahona, leveraging his significant experience and talent as he helps us to consolidate the success of our transformation efforts in the key domestic market.

Javier Astaburuaga, currently co-CEO of FEMSA Cerveza responsible for operations, will become FEMSA's CFO as Vice President of Finance and Strategic Development. In addition to his duties as Head of Finance, Javier will have responsibility for our Strategic Planning, Corporate Procurement, IT Systems and Business Processes efforts. During his 23 years with our company, which have included senior financial roles at FEMSA and the CFO position at FEMSA Cerveza, Javier has developed a profound knowledge of our operations, how they interact to create the powerful beverage platform we have today, and how they should continue to grow and evolve.

Federico Reyes, currently FEMSA's Vice President of Finance and Corporate Development, will concentrate on the pursuit and development of strategic opportunities for FEMSA. As Vice President of Corporate Development, Federico will continue to seek growth opportunities for us, and we expect he will continue making them happen."

FEMSA is the leading beverage company in Latin America. It controls an integrated beverage platform that comprises the largest Coca-Cola bottler in the region, Coca-Cola FEMSA; the second largest brewer in Mexico and important beer exporter to the United States, FEMSA Cerveza; and Oxxo, the largest and fastest growing convenience store chain in Mexico with over 3,500 stores.

Web site: http://www.femsa.com