SABMiller’s CFO Jamie Wilson quits “for personal reasons

News-wise, it was not a good month for SABMiller. In February 2015 the world’s number two brewer had to report the departure of two top executives. The first to resign was MillerCoors’ CEO Tom Long, following the announcement of a 12 percent fall in MillerCoors’ fourth quarter underlying net income. MillerCoors, the number two brewer in the U.S., is a joint venture between SABMiller and Molson Coors. Mr Long, 56, intends to retire on 30 June 2015. He has served as CEO since 2011.

Two weeks later, on 19 February 2015, SABMiller, which was the topic of heated takeover speculation last year, announced that it is searching for a new Chief Financial Officer after Jamie Wilson resigned with immediate effect, citing personal reasons.

Domenic De Lorenzo, currently Director of Group Strategy, will replace Mr Wilson while the company looks for a permanent replacement.

The Scotsman Wilson, 55, who has held the post since 2011, will step down from the board with immediate effect and be placed on “gardening leave” before officially leaving the group on 31 March 2015, the company said in a statement.

What raised quite a few eyebrows was SABMiller’s decision to include in the statement about Mr Wilson’s resignation the details of his “departure package”: Mr Wilson will receive a year’s salary of GBP 762,200 (USD 1.18 million) and a car allowance worth GBP 17,150, as well as a bonus and pension contribution. This may seem much but, in fact, he is foregoing a massive amount of unvested share options and share awards.

South African media commentators sneered that “SABMiller may have set a new standard for disclosing details about departing executives” and offered the guess that because “the market, and journalists, hate an information vacuum and are inclined to fill it with all sorts of stuff, SABMiller’s bland announcement … was accompanied with details of Wilson’s departure package.”

“Whether or not SABMiller intended to provide some insight into the shock resignation of its CFO is not clear, but it’s hard to imagine SABMiller doing anything unintentionally. Of course, this is not necessarily good for the individuals involved, but it does add a sliver more information to an otherwise opaque story,” South Africa’s “Times LIVE” wrote.

South African media concur that Mr Wilson’s departure from SABMiller was on far-from-friendly terms. “He is receiving only the contractually obligatory package from SABMiller. And if he wants to join, say, AB-InBev or any other company, he has to get the consent of Alan Clark or he’ll lose his GBP 762,200 notice pay.”

In the South African “Business Times”, analysts speculated whether Mr Wilson has had a falling out with Alan Clark, SABMiller’s CEO. Chris Gilmour of Absa Wealth and Investment Management suspects secret overtures of AB-InBev might have something to do with the development. In the paper he asks: “Did he oppose the bid, or was he an overly enthusiastic supporter of it?”

Outsiders will probably never find out the real reasons behind Mr Wilson’s sudden resignation. But it is clear that CFO appointments and departures set tongues wagging these days.

The beer industry has had a tough time with a combination of a slowdown in emerging markets and little or no growth in developed markets, making consolidation for some a route to growth.

Global beer consumption grew just 0.2 percent in 2013, according to Plato Logic, a market research group that forecasts growth of 2.4 percent in 2014.