Suntory poaches Lawson chairman Takeshi Niinami

Suntory Holdings, the acquisitive Japanese drinks group, has poached Takeshi Niinami from convenience store operator Lawson to be its first chief executive from outside the founding family.

Harvard-educated Mr Niinami will join family held Suntory as its new president in October. His appointment, which will be approved at a board meeting next month, according to people with knowledge of the situation, will require him to leave his current role as chairman of Lawson.

Lawson declined to comment. Suntory said it has not made any official announcement.

Mr Niinami became Lawson chairman in May, when Genichi Tamatsuka, a former executive at Fast Retailing, succeeded him as president and chief executive.

Suntory’s current chairman and president Nobutada Saji will stay on as chairman, according to the people familiar with the matter.

Mr Niinami told the Financial Times on Tuesday that he had expressed interest in succeeding Mr Saji about a year ago.

The choice of an outsider for the top job marks a radical departure for a company traditionally dominated by members of the founding family.

Mr Saji had known Mr Niinami socially for some time, as Suntory was a big supplier to Lawson. The relationship between the pair began to strengthen three years ago, developing over rounds of golf at Club 300 in Tokyo and dinners with family members in Akasaka.

Mr Niinami, 55, has earned a reputation as an effective operator during 12 years at the helm of Lawson, Japan’s second-biggest convenience store chain.

Takahiro Kazahaya, analyst at Deutsche Bank in Tokyo, says Mr Niinami “did an incredible job communicating with global investors, emphasising the importance of return on equity and return on invested capital”.

He is also well connected to senior figures within the cabinet of Shinzo Abe, prime minister. Last year he was appointed to the board of the Industrial Competitiveness Council, a nine-strong group handpicked by Mr Abe to advise on legislation designed to boost Japan’s growth.

1959 Born in Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan

1981 Graduated from Keio University and joined Mitsubishi Corporation’s sugar trading team

1991 Earned MBA from Harvard Business School

1995 Founded Sodex Corp (later renamed LEOC), a hospital food services business established as a joint venture with Mitsubishi

2002 Joined Lawson, whose parent company had sold the majority of its shares to Mitsubishi. Becomes president and, in 2005, chief executive officer

2013 Appointed a member of Japanese government’s council for industrial competitiveness

May 2014 Became chairman at Lawson

He said he had two conditions before agreeing to join Suntory: the confirmation of a suitable successor at Lawson, and the blessings of Yorihiko Kojima and Mikio Sasaki, the current and former chairmen of Mitsubishi Corp, Lawson’s main shareholder. Mr Sasaki, in particular, was instrumental in Mitsubishi’s investment in Lawson in 2001, and the appointment of Mr Niinami as chief executive.

“I feel so obliged to them; I needed their agreement,” he said. “Mr Saji is a great leader, I respect him, I want to learn from him and want to do business with him. I want to expand the business from Japan to overseas markets.”

Japan’s biggest beverage companies – Suntory, Kirin and Asahi – all face the same dilemma of vying for business in one of the world’s most competitive drinks markets. They are increasingly looking abroad for growth and have completed a slew of deals in recent years.

Last year Suntory listed its non-alcoholic drinks and food business on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, raising almost $4bn.

In January Suntory announced it would acquire US whisky maker Beam Inc in a $16bn deal, the biggest takeover in the drinks industry in more than five years and making it the world’s third-largest maker of distilled drinks. Last September it paid £1.35bn for high-profile consumer drinks brands Lucozade and Ribena from GlaxoSmithKline. Mr. Saji also guided Suntory’s acquisitions of France’s Orangina Schweppes and New Zealand’s Frucor Beverages in 2009.

Shares in Suntory’s listed food and beverage unit closed up 2.7 per cent at Y3,955 on Tuesday in Tokyo. Lawson rose 1.4 per cent to Y7,450.

Additional reporting by Nobuko Juji