Suntory chief: IPO currently ‘not an option’

Takeshi Niinami, president and CEO of Suntory Holdings, has confirmed that an initial public offering for his company is still “not an option”.

Takeshi Niinami: Suntory IPO is “not an option at this moment”

Speaking to The Spirits Business in Japan earlier this month, Niinami said his focus will be on generating cash from Suntory’s US$16 billion acquisition of Beam Inc in 2014, and the subsequent integration of the two company’s spirits units.

“As far as financial status is concerned at Suntory Holdings, we don’t have to think about an IPO,” he said. “[We] can manage the current cash flow from each business unit and we still have capacity to borrow under the current situation.

“So it’s not an option at this moment, I believe we [should] just concentrate on integration to create more cash, which is part of my task.”

Niinami’s comments come one year after reports claimed Suntory was considering an IPO as an option to finance growth – yet it was later confirmed the group did not have such plans in the near future.

The soft drinks unit of Suntory Holdings launched its IPO in 2013.

The former head of convenience store operator Lawson Inc, Niinami was named president and CEO of Suntory in 2014, becoming the first person from outside of the founding family to take up the role.

He said that his primary target when moving to Suntory was to ensure the effective integration of Suntory and Beam.

“That was the biggest task for me to complete within a certain time frame and it’s been going very, very well,” he said. “We are fusing two cultures to work in one direction.

“We are on the same page to develop products together, so I am so happy with the progress of the integration.”