Suntory CEO Niinami resigns over police drugs probe

(Sharecast News) - Suntory chief executive Takeshi Niinami resigned on Tuesday after police searched his home as part of an investigation into suspected illegal supplements, the global drinks giant said. Niinami, who has denied any wrongdoing, told the company that he had bought the supplements in the belief that they were legal. He has run the company since 2014 and oversaw Suntory's integration of US whiskey maker Beam following its $16bn acquisition.

The company is one of the world's biggest drinks groups, producing a range of spirits including Jim Beam and Japanese whisky brands Hakushu and Roku. It also makes Orangina and Lucozade.

"We apologise from the bottom of our hearts for causing trouble over the incident," Suntory president Nobuhiro Torii told a news conference in Tokyo on Tuesday afternoon, adding that Niinami informed the company on Suntory on August 22 that he was under police investigation.

When an external attorney questioned Niinami, he explained that he had purchased supplements "with the understanding that they were legal".

Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com