Scottish & Newcastle Plc has named Tony Froggatt, a former executive of the Seagram wine and spirits group Seagram, as its new chief executive on Thursday, to steer Britain’s biggest brewer through a quickly consolidating industry. The British brewing giant, which makes of Kronenbourg, Foster’s, and Baltika beers, and owns 1,500 pubs in Great Britain, said Froggatt, 54, would join the firm on May 12, drawing a basic salary of 630,000 UK pounds ($985,900). Analysts and investors said Froggatt was not well known to the British brewing industry but had a strong background. “He’s got a good European background, which is where Scottish & Newcastle (S&N) are positioned now,” said David Liston, a fund manager at Gerrard Ltd. “He’s also got good experience in brands, which is obviously the key area at present,” he added. Some analysts were also pleased the firm had appointed an external candidate. Some analysts had expected the job to go to Finance Director Ian McHoul, who while widely respected is perceived by some to be too close to the long-standing head of the firm, Brian Stewart. S&N said Stewart would hand over his executive responsibilities to Froggatt and become non-executive chairman as of July 1.