News Alert: Campari CEO Matteo Fantacchiotti Resigns After Five-Month Tenure

Campari CEO Matteo Fantacchiotti has resigned effective immediately, less than six months after succeeding longtime chief executive Bob Kunze-Concewitz at the head of the Italian spirits group. He cited personal reasons for the decision. According to Impact Databank, Campari Group ranks seventh among all spirits marketers globally, with volume up 10% to nearly 37 million cases last year.

Campari has appointed Paolo Marchesini (Chief Financial and Operating Officer) and Fabio Di Fede (General Counsel and Business Development Officer) as interim co-CEOs. They will also serve as executive members of a new leadership transition committee chaired by Kunze-Concewitz.

“Our growth ambition remains very strong,” stated Luca Garavoglia, chairman of Campari Group. “We have a very solid future ahead thanks to our robust organization, our global footprint, and particularly our unique portfolio made of some of the most admired brands in the spirits industry nurtured by a committed team of professionals. In continuity with the past, we’ll continue focusing on building our brands to keep on generating profitable growth and industry outperformance in the long run, as we have done since we went public in 2001.”

Fantacchiotti’s resignation comes following an investor call last week covering the U.S. market, after which it was forced to issue a clarification that comments around persistent softness in the industry were not related specifically to company performance. Still, Campari’s shares fell following the call, and slipped another 6% after the announcement of Fantacchiotti’s departure.

Campari posted net sales up 3.8% to €1.5 billion ($1.6b) for its fiscal first half ended in June, with the company pointing to the strong performance of Campari, Aperol, Espolòn, and Grand Marnier, particularly in the U.S. Adjusted EBITDA was up 3.5% organically to €419 million ($453m).

Campari’s Americas region—representing 45% of sales—saw a 6.8% bump in H1 with the U.S. growing by 3.5% and accelerating in the second quarter. The increase was attributed to double-digit growth for Espolòn, as well as continued growth for Aperol and Grand Marnier. Wild Turkey was stable in the first half, while Skyy continued to decline.

Earlier this year, Campari closed its $1.3 billion acquisition of Courvoisier Cognac from Suntory Global Spirits, marking its largest acquisition to date.—Daniel Marsteller

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