Suntory Holdings CEO Takeshi Niinami has left the Japanese group amid an ongoing police investigation into his alleged purchase of possibly illegal supplements.
Niinami stepped down as of yesterday (1 September), a statement from Suntory Holdings confirmed.
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He had been CEO at Suntory Holdings for over a decade, taking on the position in 2014.
The Jim Beam owner said it had received notification of the police probe on 22 August.
Suntory Holdings noted Niinami had told the business the investigation was related to “supplements that were allegedly purchased by him under the understanding that they were legal”.
“Given that the matter is under investigation, the company believes that the
determination of the legality of the above supplements should be deferred to the
authorities,” Suntory Holdings said.
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By GlobalDataThe statement added that, while the investigation was still ongoing, Suntory had decided Niinami would be unable to continue in the chief executive role the company.
“Therefore, without waiting for the outcome of the investigation, the company determined that Takeshi Niinami’s actions which demonstrated a lack of awareness regarding supplements rendered him unable to continue in the key position of representative director, chairman and CEO,” it said.
Suntory Holdings added “the supplements purchased by Takeshi Niinami are not products of Suntory Group”.
Just Drinks has asked the company to confirm whether it has appointed a replacement for Niinami and if it has started a search for a new chief executive.
According to Suntory Holdings’ website at the time of writing, the group’s leadership team is comprised of president Nobihiro Torii, Greg Hughes, the president and CEO of Suntory Global Spirits and Makiko Ono, the president and CEO of Suntory Beverage & Food.
Niinami relinquished his president position at Suntory Holdings last December when the group announced a transition into a “top-two” management structure, appointing Nobuhiro Torii as president.
Niinami took on the chairman title while retaining his CEO role.
For its full-year fiscal 2025, Suntory Holdings has forecasted its total group revenue to reach Y3.7trn ($24.9bn).
In the first half of its fiscal 2025 year, group revenue excluding liquor tax declined 1.9% in its first-half period to Y1.6trn. Including liquor tax, this metric dropped 2.2% to Y1.5trn.
Operating income in the period ended 30 June dropped 30.6% to Y126.9trn. Adjusted operating income was down 14.5% on the same period in 2024, at Y141.7trn.
Profit for the period also slumped 29.9% to Y87.2trn. Profit attributable to the owners of the company was also down 35.7% at Y59.6trn.
Suntory attributed the drop in operating income and profit attributable to the company’s owners to “the impact of the sale of affiliate companies and active marketing investments”, Masato Arishiro, managing executive officer at Suntory Holdings said in a presentation on the results in August.
