TOKYO : Japan’s Suntory Holdings said on Thursday that Vice President Nobuhiro Torii will become president next March, putting the food and beverage conglomerate back under the leadership of a founding family member.
Takeshi Niinami, who took the helm of the family-owned firm in 2014 as its first outsider president, will become chairman and continue to oversee its overseas operations, the company said.
Suntory had purchased U.S. spirits company Beam for $16 billion including debt, just months before Niinami became president, marking a major step in expanding its overseas operations.
“I intend to solidify domestic liquor business, improve its sales and profit, and strengthen its profitability, which is a prerequisite for us to become a global company and compete with other major global players,” Torii told a press conference on Thursday.
Torii, a former banker, is a great-grandson of Suntory founder Shinjiro Torii.
