Canada: Sleeman Breweries replaces four senior executives including president

Sleeman Breweries has replaced four senior executives, including president Rick Knudson, the company's chief executive said, according to The Canadian Press, March 4.

Knudson, appointed president and chief operating officer in January 2003, is being replaced by Kenny Sadai from Japan's Sapporo Breweries Ltd., which bought the Guelph, Ont.-based beermaker last year and took it private.

Sadai has 20 years experience at Sapporo, which purchased and took private Guelph, Ont.-based Sleeman in 2006 in a deal valued at about C$400 million.

John Sleeman, who remains chief executive of Sleeman Breweries, confirmed the executive replacements in an interview but wouldn't name the three other executives affected by the restructuring.

The company promoted two junior employees to more senior roles, and filled the other two spots with Sadai and another Sapporo worker, he said.

The moves were partly a cost-cutting measure, he added.

Sleeman said Sapporo has told him his own future is not in doubt, and he expects to remain with the brewing company that bears his family's name for some time.

Sleeman is the third-biggest beer maker in Canada after Molson Coors and Labatt.

Sapporo Breweries Ltd. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Sapporo Holdings Ltd., a Japanese holding company with an enterprise value of $4.3 billion whose businesses make and distribute both alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages.

05 March, 2008