[ad_1]
Carlos Brito, who transformed a Brazilian regional brewer into the world’s largest brewery, Anheuser-Busch InBev, will leave the group’s position as CEO after 15 years.
AB InBev said Brito would step down from his role as Michel Doukeris, president of the group’s U.S. business, on July 1 and would leave the company after more than three decades.
The 60-year march marks the end of an era for the beer industry after Jean-François van Boxmeer retired as CEO of Heineken in 2020. Both helped drive the consolidation of the sector and acquired players. to create global brewery.
“Among his many successes, Brito was the architect who led and incorporated AB InBev into the world’s leading beer company and a world leader in consumer packaging products masterfully integrating the many companies that make up AB InBev in today, ”said Martin Barrington, president of AB InBev.
Budweiser brewery Stella Artois and Corona had seriously considered external candidates for the role, the Financial Times reported last year, but opted for Doukeris, another Brazilian who joined the group 25 years ago, rising through its sales hierarchy before leading Asian and American companies.
AB InBev said the council had elected Doukeris unanimously.
Brito’s departure comes as the company struggles with the impact of the pandemic on a debt burden that stood at $ 82.7 billion at the end of 2020, incurred by its acquisition of SABMiller in 2016. The company cut the dividend in half in April last year.
It reported on Thursday that first-quarter revenue had risen 17.2%, above expectations, to $ 12.3 billion, with a 13.3% increase in beer volumes sold as a global consumer and socialization began to recover from pandemic restrictions, generating $ 1.1 billion underlying. benefits.
Brito’s brewing career began in 1989 when he joined Brazilian brewery Brahma, working for his mentor Jorge Paulo Lemann, founder of private equity firm 3G, who paid for his training at Stanford.
Brahma began an agreement-led expansion, becoming Ambev regional brewer. Brito took over as CEO in 2004 and, in the same year, the company merged with Belgian Interbrew, maker of Stella Artois, to create InBev. Four years later she carried out a hostile acquisition of the American group Anheuser-Busch to become a world brewery.
[ad_2]
Source link
