Clear and sensible succession plan ABI has announced that its longstanding and well respected CFO, Felipe Dutra, will be stepping down effective 29th April 2020. Dutra has been with the company for 30 years and helped to create the current business through multiple mergers and acquisitions (Ambev/InBev, Anheuser-Busch, Grupo Modelo and SAB Miller). Dutra will remain with the company to assist during the transition period. He has already worked closely with his successor, Fernando Tennenbaum, for many years. We think clarity about management is a positive for the stock, especially with a high-quality appointment to CFO. Incoming CFO very experienced Fernando Tennenbaum has been with ABI for 15 years already. He was previously CFO of ABI’s listed Brazilian subsidiary, AmBev (a business which accounts for 26% of ABI’s current market cap); Lucas Lira will become CFO of AmBev. Tennenbaum played a key role in the SAB Miller transaction, where he led the funding of the deal and managed the company’s debt profile. He also has experience in the Investor Relations role at AmBev, which should prove useful as outgoing CFO Dutra was very shareholder friendly, and we believe investors expect the high level of engagement from ABI management to continue. Other changes to the ExCo Felipe Dutra had also held the Chief Technology Officer role, which will now be taken up by David Almeida (a 22 year veteran of ABI) as Chief Strategy and Technology Officer. Almeida will lead various transformation initiatives in operational excellence and innovation. Data analytics is a key area for ABI, and will only become more important going forward. With David Almeida’s role change, a new Chief People Officer, Nelson Jamel (also a 22 year veteran), has been appointed.