The long-serving boss of drinks giant Diageo announced he was calling time on more than a decade in charge of some of the world’s biggest alcohol brands.
Paul Walsh, 57, who has led the firm behind labels like Guinness, Smirnoff and Johnnie Walker since 2000, has presided over a near-tripling of the group’s share price from around £6.50 to just shy of £20 at Tuesday night’s close.
Diageo’s chief operating officer Ivan Menezes will take over from July 1, though the firm said Mr Walsh would stay on for a year-long transition period before retiring.
His 13-year stint in charge has seen a series of acquisitions and expansions into emerging markets, including the purchase of United Spirits, the Indian drinks conglomerate, while selling off some non-drink businesses such as Burger King.
However, it retains its ownership of Perthshire’s luxury Gleneagles Hotel. The company has also pursued a strategy of buying drinks brands in Turkey, Brazil, China and Africa. Diageo now sells to 180 countries.
Last year’s bid to buy tequila giant Jose Cuervo stalled in December after the two parties failed to reach agreement.
Diageo said that Mr Walsh would spend his last months with the company working on “transitioning critical partner and external relationships” to his successor, particularly those “essential to recent acquisitions.”
“The handover is being made at a time when the business is strong, and Ivan takes on the role of CEO at an exciting stage of the company’s global development,” said chairman Franz Humer, praising Mr Walsh’s contribution and legacy. Mr Walsh began his career with Grand Metropolitan in 1982.
The drinks company merged with Guinness in 1997 to create Diageo.
“It has been a privilege to lead this great company,” he said. “Diageo is one of the world’s leading businesses, a position it has earned through the efforts of every one of its talented people.”
Mr Walsh’s salary reached £1.2 million last year, as part of a remuneration package which totalled £11.2m including bonus and incentives.
His current holding of almost 770,000 Diageo shares is worth more than £15m, with the retiring chief executive having also released an eight-figure sum from granted stock options in recent months.
The group’s extensive Scotch whisky business has significant operations in Fife, with around a quarter of Diageo’s 4,000-strong Scottish workforce based in the kingdom.
A new £86m bottling plant was opened in Leven last year, part of a £200m commitment to the company’s operations in Fife over the last three years.
The group has also announced a £1 billion investment to boost its whisky production capacity in Scotland, alongside plans to build a new warehousing complex at Begg Farm, by Kirkcaldy, creating an additional 40 posts.
Mr Menezes, who was raised in India, headed up Diageo’s key North America division for eight years before his appointment as chief operating officer last year.
The group, which posted sales of £14.5bn and pre-tax profits of £3.1bn for the year to mid-2012, recently announced plans to save £60m a year through an overhaul of its worldwide supply chain.
Analysts at Investec said the “well-flagged transition” would not surprise the markets. Stocks closed the day largely unchanged, up 3p ay 1,977p.