Norman Adami becomes Chairman of South African Breweries
It’s an interesting management change. Norman Adami, a 33-year veteran of SABMiller and currently Chairman plus Managing Director of the brewer’s South African unit SAB, will be promoted to the new role of Chairman, SABMiller Beverages South Africa with effect from 7 January 2013, SABMiller announced on 22 October 2012.
While relinquishing his duties as Managing Director, Mr Adami, 57, in his new role will assume overall strategic responsibility for SABMiller's beverage businesses in South Africa, and will continue as a member of the Group Executive Committee, SABMiller said.
To keep Mr Adami on board makes absolute sense as South Africa is the second most important EBITA contributor to the group’s earnings behind Latin America. During Mr Adami’s tenure SAB has grown its share of the South African beer market to about 90 percent. It had dropped to 87 percent following the loss of the Amstel licence in 2007.
However, throughout his long career with SAB, Mr Adami has been best known for his skills at slashing costs. This has awarded him the not so gracious nickname of “Lebanese butcher” in South Africa. With SABMiller planning to invest up to USD 2.5 billion in Africa over the next five years to build and revamp breweries, the board probably thought they needed someone like Mr Adami to keep a close eye on things and prevent costs from running out of control.
In the press release announcing the management change, Alan Clark, SABMiller’s Chief Operating Officer, said that Mr Adami will also see to the further development of the brewer’s business in neighbouring Namibia.
Readers will remember that two and a half years ago SABMiller announced that they would build a USD 34 million brewery in Namibia but nothing has come of this yet. From what we hear, both SAB and SABI (SABMiller’s African unit excluding South Africa) are vying for control over this territory.
Whatever personal reasons Mr Adami may have had for stepping down as Managing Director – rumour has it that he too wanted to succeed CEO Graham Mackay but was passed over in favour of Alan Clark – his vacating his post has allowed SABMiller to do a management reshuffle and bring the Colombian Mauricio Leyva Arboleda, 42, currently President of SABMiller’s business in Peru, Union de Cervecerias Peruanas Backus y Johnston S.A.A. (Backus) to South Africa. He is the first non-South African to manage this unit and will take up his new appointment on 7 January 2013. Mr Arboleda has been with the group since SABMiller bought the Colombian brewer Bavaria in 2005. In his new role Mr Arboleda will report to Mr Adami.
Other consequential appointments, including the new President of Backus in Peru, will be announced in due course, SABMiller said.
