Asahi Beverages has announced 150 redundancies following its $16 billion acquisition of Carlton United Breweries (CUB) last year.

The drinks giant, which produces brands including VB, Carlton Draught, Melbourne Bitter, Pure Blonde and Great Northern – employs around 3200 people in Australia, with the redundancies focused on the administration and management side of the business.

Julian Sheezel, group general manager of corporate affairs said: “With any type of major business integration there are usually job losses of around 5-10% due to duplication in roles. We’ve been able to keep our job losses to under 5%, with no award manufacturing job losses from the integration.

“We minimised job losses because of our new investments in growing the business, including significant capital investments in manufacturing.”

Acquisition combined two alcohol businesses

Asahi Beverages announce it was combining its two alcohol businesses – CUB and Asahi Premium Beverages – in August 2020. The combined business began operating under the iconic Carlton & United Breweries name in Q4 2020.

Robert Iervasi (above), Group CEO, Asahi Beverages Oceania, said: “The combination of CUB and Asahi Premium Beverages will give our customers access to a leading portfolio which will deliver a superior customer experience and excite our consumers. It will also make it easier for our valued suppliers and partners to do business with us.

“We’re very pleased that Peter Filipovic will continue to lead CUB as CEO of our alcohol Business Division in Australia, joining Stuart Roberts CEO Asahi Lifestyle Beverages and Andrew Campbell CEO Asahi Beverages New Zealand.”

The combination of CUB and Asahi Premium Beverages reduced the number of Asahi Beverages business divisions from four to three, with the non-alcohol business Asahi Lifestyle Beverages and Asahi Beverages New Zealand unaffected by the announcement.

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